31580 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2001 / Proposed Rules

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–6963–3]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete

Schuylkill Metals Corporation Site from

the National Priorities List: request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Region 4 announces its

intent to delete the Schuylkill Metals

Corporation Site from the National

Priorities List (NPL) and requests public

comment on this proposed action. The

NPL constitutes appendix B to 40 CFR

part 300 which is the National Oil and

Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA

promulgated pursuant to section 105 of

the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.

EPA and the State of Florida

Department of Environmental Protection

(FDEP) have determined that the Site

poses no significant threat to public

health or the environment and therefore,

further response measures pursuant to

CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES: Comments concerning this Site

may be submitted on or before: July 12,

2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed

to: Richard D. Green, Director, Waste

Management Division, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth

Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303–

8960.

Comprehensive information on this

Site is available through the Region 4

public docket, which is available for

viewing at the Schuylkill Metals

Corporation Site information

repositories at two locations. Locations,

contacts, phone numbers and viewing

hours are:

U.S. EPA Record Center, attn: Ms.

Debbie Jourdan, Atlanta Federal

Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960, Phone:

(404) 562–8862, Hours: 8 a.m. to 4

p.m., Monday through Friday By

Appointment Only

Bruton Memorial Library, 302

McLendon Street, Plant City, Florida

33566–3299, Phone: (813) 757–9215,

Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday

through Thursday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,

Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday,

closed, Sunday

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Galo

Jackson, U.S. EPA Region 4, Mail Code:

WD–SSMB, Atlanta Federal Center, 61

Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia

30303–8960, (404) 562–8937.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The EPA Region 4 announces its

intent to delete the Schuylkill Metals

Corporation Site, Plant City, Florida,

from the NPL, which constitutes

appendix B of the NCP, 40 CFR part

300, and requests comments on this

deletion. EPA identifies sites on the

NPL that appear to present a significant

risk to public health, welfare, or the

environment. Sites on the NPL may be

the subject of remedial actions financed

by the Hazardous Substance Superfund

Trust Fund (Fund). Pursuant to

§ 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, any site

deleted from the NPL remains eligible

for Fund-financed remedial actions if

conditions at the site warrant such

action.

EPA proposes to delete the Schuylkill

Metals Corporation Site, located at 402

South Woodrow Wilson Street in Plant

City, Hillsborough County, Florida from

the NPL.

EPA will accept comments

concerning this Site for thirty days after

publication of this document in the

Federal Register.

Section II of this document explains

the criteria for deleting sites from the

NPL. Section III discusses procedures

that EPA is using for this action. Section

IV discusses how this Site meets the

deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

The NCP establishes the criteria that

the Agency uses to delete sites from the

NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR

300.425(e), sites may be deleted from, or

re-categorized on, the NPL where no

further response is appropriate. In

making this determination, EPA shall

consider, in consultation with the State,

whether any of the following criteria

have been met:

(i) Responsible or other parties have

implemented all appropriate response

actions required;

(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed

responses under CERCLA have been

implemented and no further action by

responsible parties is appropriate; or

(iii) The remedial investigation has

shown that the release poses no

significant threat to public health or the

environment and, therefore, taking of

remedial measures is not appropriate.

CERCLA section 121(c), 42 U.S.C.

9621(c), provides in pertinent part that:

If the President selects a remedial action

that results in any hazardous substances,

pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the

Site, the President shall review such

remedial action no less often than each five

years after the initiation of such remedial

action to assure that human health and the

environment are being protected by the

remedial action being implemented. * * *

EPA policy interprets this provision

of CERCLA to apply to those sites where

treated, in this case solidified, waste

remains on-site. On that basis, for

reasons set forth below, the statutory

requirement has been satisfied at this

Site, and five year reviews and

operation and maintenance activities

will be required. In the event new

information is discovered which

indicates a need for further action, EPA

may initiate appropriate remedial

actions. In addition, whenever there is

a significant release from a site

previously deleted from the NPL, that

site may be restored to the NPL without

application of the Hazardous Ranking

System. Accordingly, the Site is

qualified for deletion from the NPL.

III. Deletion Procedures

EPA will accept and evaluate public

comments before making a final

decision on deletion. The following

procedures were used for the intended

deletion of the Site:

1. FDEP has concurred with the

deletion decision;

2. Concurrently with this Notice of

Intent, a notice has been published in

local newspapers and has been

distributed to appropriate federal, state

and local officials and other interested

parties announcing a 30-day public

comment period on the proposed

deletion from the NPL; and

3. The Region has made all relevant

documents available at the information

repositories.

The Region will respond to significant

comments, if any, submitted during the

comment period.

Deletion of the Site from the NPL does

not itself create, alter, or revoke any

individual rights or obligations. The

NPL is designed primarily for

informational purposes to assist Agency

management.

A deletion occurs when the Regional

Administrator places a final notice in

the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL

will reflect any deletions in the final

update following the Notice. Public

notices and copies of the

Responsiveness Summary, if any, will

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2001 / Proposed Rules 31581

be made available to local residents by

the Regional office.

IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion

The following site summary provides

the Agency’s rationale for the intention

to delete this Site from the NPL.

The Schuylkill Metals Corporation

Site is located at 802 South Woodrow

Wilson Street, Plant City, Hillsborough

County, Florida. The Site is 17.4 acres

in size and is currently occupied by the

solidified monolith, two wetlands, the

former wastewater holding pond and

adjacent fields.

The Schuylkill Metals Corporation

Site was in operation between 1972 and

1986 as a battery recycling facility. The

facility received spent automobile and

golf cart batteries. The tops of the spent

batteries were sawed off, contents

emptied on to the ground and lead

plates shipped from the Site by rail to

be smelted for reuse. Contaminated

battery casings were crushed and buried

on Site, or used as road or building

material. Prior to 1981, acidic wash

down waste waters were stored in the

2.2 acre unlined holding pond. Initially,

lime was used for pH adjustment of the

water stored in the holding pond.

Subsequent to this, ammonia was used.

In 1981, after upgrading of the

wastewater system, discharge to the

holding pond ceased. At this time,

wastewater was treated with sodium

hydroxide, prior to discharge under

permit to the city’s wastewater

treatment plant.

In 1981, EPA conducted its initial

investigation of the Schuylkill Metals

Corporation Site. The results of this

study indicated that groundwater from

the surficial aquifer contained elevated

levels of cadmium, chromium, lead and

ammonia in the vicinity of the holding

pond and the battery processing area.

The Site was placed on the NPL and

a remedial investigation (RI) was

performed at the facility during 1987.

As a result of sampling of surface and

subsurface soil, the former battery

processing area was found to be the

primary source of contamination. In

April 1988, an addendum RI addressed

specific areas of concern that were not

included in the initial study. Later that

year, a draft feasibility study (FS) was

completed which included proposed

cleanup levels for soil and groundwater,

evaluated the remedial alternatives for

the Site and specified the volume of soil

requiring treatment. A treatability study

work plan was submitted in January

1989, which evaluated various chemical

formulas for a solidification/

stabilization soil remedy.

In July 1989, a FS addendum was

completed, in an effort to determine

appropriate cleanup levels for the

perimeter ditch sediment and marsh

sediment. The addendum allowed EPA

to address potential remedial actions to

mitigate the environmental threat to the

marshes posed by the release of

contaminants from the Schuylkill

Metals Corporation Site. Late that year,

the Environmental Services Division

(ESD) of EPA conducted two studies on

the east marsh at the Site: a wetland

classification assessment and a

sampling investigation. The wetland

was classified, delineated, and analyzed

for its functional value. Samples of the

surface water and sediment were

collected and analyzed. These reports

identified the need to perform biological

testing on marsh samples. Later that

year, ESD collected surface water and

sediment samples to determine the

toxicity of the metal contaminants to

terrestrial and aquatic organisms,

indigenous plant and animal

bioaccumulation, as well as the fate of

these metals in the wetland system. The

Wetland Impact Study was finalized in

1990 and presented the chemical and

biological data, as well as the effect of

potential remedial activities on the

marsh.

A Draft Final Addendum to the

Feasibility Study Report, concluded in

July of 1990, evaluated the technologies

for remediation and the remedial

alternatives appropriate for the

wetlands. It compared the feasibility of

four alternatives in relation to the nine

evaluation criteria.

In September 1990, EPA issued a

Record of Decision (ROD), requiring the

solidification/stabilization of the thenestimated 38,000 cubic yards

(approximately 53,200 tons) of

contaminated soil and sediment, having

concentrations above 500 milligrams per

kilograms (mg/kg); groundwater

pumping-and-treatment; sequestration

of lead in the wetland’s sediment by

changing the hydroperiod of the affected

wetlands; and mitigation for the damage

caused to the wetlands, as a result of the

operation of a battery recycling facility

adjacent to wetlands.

As a result of a hydrologic study

conducted after the issuance of the

ROD, the selected remedy for the

wetland was modified to removal and

solidification/stabilization of leadcontaminated sediment, above the 100

mg/kg clean-up goal. This modification

was documented in a 1993 Explanation

of Significant Differences.

The responsible party entered into an

agreement with EPA, in which they

agreed to perform the work outlined in

the ROD. This was memorialized in a

March 1991 Consent Decree. To

implement the remedy, a remedial

design and remedial action (RD/RA)

work plans were submitted to EPA. The

last of these plans was approved in June

1993.

In December 1993 two slurry walls

were installed in order to facilitate the

management of the Site water. They

allowed the volume of groundwater

removed from the soil excavation area to

be minimized and confined primarily to

contaminated water in the immediate

vicinity of the soil contamination, as

well as rainfall which occurred during

soil solidification/stabilization

activities.

During the months of April and May

1994, approximately 8,100 cubic yards

of lead-contaminated marsh sediments

were removed from the east and west

marshes. All sediment having lead

concentrations greater than 125 mg/kg

were excavated. The marsh sediment

from grids with lead concentrations

between 125 and 500 mg/kg stockpiled

in a clean upland area. Sediment with

lead concentration greater than 500 mg/

kg were stockpiled within the north

slurry wall areas for subsequent

treatment.

In June 1994, construction of the

groundwater pre-treatment system

began. This system consisted of three

major process operations: a metals

removal system, an air stripper/

ammonia scrubber and a chlorination

system. For the first three months of the

pre-treatment system’s operation, the

plant treated the existing pond water to

provide room for groundwater storage.

The treated water was discharged to the

Plant City publicly owned treatment

works (POTW). While the contaminated

soil was being stabilized, groundwater

from the excavation dewatering

operation was treated prior to discharge

to the POTW. An estimated 15-to-18

million gallons of groundwater was

treated between the months of July 1994

and December 1996.

In December 1994, treatment of soil

started and continued until May 1997.

During this period approximately

258,000 tons (184,000 cubic yards) of

soil and sediment were treated. This

volume of lead-contaminated soil and

sediment includes excavation and

treatment of approximately 10,000 cubic

yards of sediments removed from the

bottom of the former holding pond.

Excavation of the former holding pond

required the installation of sheet piling

to segregate the pond into three

sections.

Wetland mitigation activities started

in May 1995 and ended in August 1997.

Wetland mitigation activities involved

the creation of additional wetland

acreage from upland or pond areas onsite to mitigate for the permanently

31582 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 113 / Tuesday, June 12, 2001 / Proposed Rules

inundated or contaminated areas and

temporary loss of function. This upland

portion included mitigation at a ratio of

2:1 for the permanently inundated areas

in the East Marsh plus an additional 1:1

compensation for natural resource

damage agreed to in negotiations with

the FDEP.

The Site’s post-soil treatment

groundwater was monitored on four

occasions, in order to determine

whether the groundwater treatment

component of the ROD would need to

be implemented. These results indicated

that further groundwater recovery and

treatment would not be necessary.

Due to the treatment of contaminated

soil and sediment, hazardous substances

have been immobilized, allowing for

unlimited use of part of the Site.

Excluded from unlimited use are the

areas of the treated soil and the

remediated wetlands, which are the

subject of a conservation easement. In

order to confirm that the Site is

protective of public health and the

environment, limited maintenance of

the solidified monolith will be required,

as well as Five Year Reviews.

EPA, with concurrence of FDEP, has

determined that all appropriate actions

at the Schuylkill Metals Corporation

Site have been completed, and no

further remedial action is necessary.

Therefore, EPA is proposing deletion of

the Site from the NPL.

Dated: March 26, 2001.

A. Stanley Meiburg,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

[FR Doc. 01–14470 Filed 6–11–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL–6964–5]

National Oil and Hazardous

Substances Pollution Contingency

Plan; National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of intent for partial

deletion of the Tobyhanna Army Depot

Site from the National Priorities List.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) Region 3 announces its

intent to delete a portion of the

Tobyhanna Army Depot Site, located in

Monroe County, Pennsylvania, from the

National Priorities List (NPL) and

requests public comment on this action.

The NPL constitutes Appendix B to the

National Oil and Hazardous Substances

Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40

CFR part 300, which EPA promulgated

pursuant to section 105 of the

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act (CERCLA). This partial deletion for

the Tobyhanna Army Depot Site is

proposed in accordance with 40 CFR

300.425(e) and the Notice of Policy

Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed

on the National Priorities List. 60 FR

55466 (Nov. 1, 1995).

This proposal for partial deletion

pertains to all portions of the

Tobyhanna Army Depot Site except for

contaminated groundwater plumes at

Operable Units 1 and 5 (OU1 and OU5)

[Excluded Areas], which are undergoing

natural attention and long-term

monitoring. These Excluded Areas will

remain on the NPL until the

performance standards specified in the

Records of Decision are met. EPA bases

its partial deletion proposal on the

determination by EPA, the Army, and

the Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Protection that all

appropriate actions under CERCLA have

been completed to protect human

health, welfare and the environment.

DATES: EPA will accept comments

concerning its proposal for partial

deletion for thirty (30) days after

publication of this document in the

Federal Register and a local newspaper

of record (the Pocono Record).

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

Lorie Baker, Superfund Site Manager,

U.S. EPA, Region 3 (3HS34), 1650 Arch

Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103;

PHONE: 215–814–3355; FAX: 215–814–

3001; EMAIL:

baker.lorie@epamail.epa.gov.

Information Repositories:

Comprehensive information on the

Tobyhanna Army Depot Site as well as

the Deletion Docket is available for

review at the following two information

repository locations:

Coolbaugh Township Municipal

Building, Route 611, Tobyhanna, PA

18466. The Coolbaugh Township office

hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday–

Friday. The telephone number is (570)

984–8490.

Tobyhanna Army Depot, Public

Affairs Office, 11 Hap Arnold

Boulevard, Tobyhanna, PA 18466–5076.

The Public Affairs Office hours are 7:30

a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday–Friday. The

telephone number is (570) 895–6552.

The Deletion Docket is also available

for review at the U.S. EPA Region 3

Regional Center for Environmental

Information (RCEI), 1650 Arch Street

(3PM52), Philadelphia, PA 19103–2029.

The RCEI office hours are 8 a.m. to 5

p.m., Monday–Friday. The telephone

number is (215) 814–5254.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lorie Baker, U.S. EPA, Region 3

(3HS34), 1650 Arch Street,

Philadelphia, PA 19103; PHONE: 215–

814–3355; FAX: 215–814–3001; EMAIL:

baker.lorie@epamail.epa.gov

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

III. Deletion Procedures

IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

I. Introduction

The United States Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3

announces its intent to delete a portion

of the Tobyhanna Army Depot Site,

located in Monroe County,

Pennsylvania, from the National

Priorities List (NPL), which constitutes

Appendix B of the National Oil and

Hazardous Substances Pollution

Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part

300, and requests comments on this

proposal. This proposal for partial

deletion pertains to all portions of the

Tobyhanna Army Depot Site except for

contaminated groundwater plumes at

Operable Units 1 and 5 (OU1 and OU5)

[Excluded Areas], which are undergoing

natural attenuation and long-term

monitoring. These Excluded Areas will

remain on the NPL until the

performance standards specified in the

Records of Decision are met. EPA

proposes to delete the Tobyhanna Army

Depot Site except for the Excluded

Areas as defined above because all

appropriate CERCLA response activities

have been completed in those areas.

The NPL is a list maintained by EPA

of sites that EPA has determined present

a significant risk to human health,

welfare, or the environment. Pursuant to

40 CFR 300.425(e) of the NCP, any site

or portion of a site deleted from the NPL

remains eligible for remedial actions if

conditions at the site warrant such

action.

EPA will accept comments

concerning its intent for partial deletion

for thirty (30) days after publication of

this notice in the Federal Register and

a newspaper of record.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

The NCP establishes the criteria that

EPA uses to delete sites from the NPL.

In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e),

sites may be deleted from the NPL

where no further response is

appropriate to protect human health or

the environment. In making such a

determination pursuant to 40 CFR