[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65616-65618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30798]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR PART 300

[FRL-5346-9]


Lewisburg Dump Superfund Site, Lewisburg, TN

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to delete.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region IV, 
announces its intent to delete the Lewisburg Dump site from the 
National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comment on this 
proposed action. The NPL constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 
which is the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP), promulgated by EPA, pursuant to Section 105 of 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA and the State of Tennessee 
Department of the Environment & Conservation have determined that the 
site no longer poses a significant threat to public health or the 
environment and, therefore, further CERCLA remedial measures are not 
appropriate.

DATES: A 30-Day Public Comment Period (December 11, 1995 to January 11, 
1996) has been established for the Lewisburg Dump site deletion 
proposal. Comments concerning the proposal may be submitted by January 
11, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Femi Akindele, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 345 Courtland Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 30365.
    Comprehensive information on this site is available for review at 
the following site information repositories.

Marshall County Memorial Library, 310 Farmington Pike, Lewisburg, TN 
37091.
U.S. EPA Record Center, 345 Courtland St., Atlanta, GA 30365.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Femi Akindele, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 345 Courtland Street, Atlanta, Georgia, 30365, 404-
347-3555 EXT. 2042 or 1-800-435-9233 EXT 2042.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    This notice is to announce EPA's intent to delete the Lewisburg 
Dump site from the NPL. It also serves to request public comments on 
the deletion proposal.
    EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk to 
public health, welfare, or environment and maintains the NPL as the 
list of these sites. Sites on the NPL qualify for remedial responses 
financed by the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund (Fund). As 
described in 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL 
remain eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely 
event that conditions at the site warrant such actions. EPA accepts 
comments on the proposal to delete a site from the NPL for thirty days 
after publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

NPL Deletion Criteria

    The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from 
the NPL. In accordance with Sec. 300.425(e) of the NCP, sites may be 
deleted from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In 
making this determination, EPA, in consultation with the State, 
considers whether the site has met any of the following criteria for 
site deletion:
    (i) Responsible or other parties have implemented all appropriate 
response actions required.
    (ii) All appropriate response actions under CERCLA have been 
implemented and no further response actions are deemed necessary.
    (iii) Remedial investigation has determined that the release poses 
no significant threat to public health or the environment and, 
therefore, no remedial action is appropriate.

Deletion Procedures

    The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of 
this site:
    (1) EPA Region IV issued a Final Close Out Report in September 
1993, which addressed the site conditions, quality assurance and 
control during construction, and technical criteria for satisfying the 
completion requirements.
    (2) Concurrent with this announcement, a notice has been published 
in the local newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate federal, 
state, and local officials announcing the commencement of a 30-day 
public comment period on the Notice of Intent to Delete.
    (3) EPA has made all relevant documents available for public review 
at the information repositories.
    Deletion of the site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or 
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed 
primarily for information purposes and to assist EPA management. As 
mentioned earlier, Section 300.425(e)(30) of the NCP states that 
deletion of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility of the 
site for future Fund-financed response actions.
    For the deletion of this site, EPA will accept and evaluate public 
comments on this Notice of Intent to Delete before finalizing the 
decision. If necessary, the Agency will prepare a Responsiveness 
Summary to address any significant public comments received during the 
comment period. The deletion is finalized after the Regional 
Administrator places a Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. 

[[Page 65617]]


Basis for Intended Lewisburg Dump Site Deletion

    The following is a summary of activities on the Lewisburg Dump 
Site. It provides EPA's rationale for the proposed deletion.
    The site is a 20-acre tract of farmland located less than one mile 
north of Lewisburg, Tennessee. It contains an abandoned six acre 
limestone quarry and a pond. The City of Lewisburg owned and operated 
the dump which used about four acres at the western portion of the 
quarry for landfill operations from the late 1950s to 1979. The 
landfill was open to all residential and industrial dumpers. City 
records have indicated that several surrounding communities hauled 
wastes to the dump.
    In 1973, a study was conducted by the Tennessee Department of 
Public Health (TDPH) which indicated that the old quarry was unfit for 
a sanitary landfill. Also, in the early 1970s, the City submitted plans 
to TDPH for an on-site incinerator, interim maintenance, and final 
closure of the dump. In 1977, preliminary closure of the landfill began 
as soil was applied to cover the wastes. In 1979, final closure of the 
landfill was conducted.
    EPA initially inspected and assessed the conditions of the site in 
1982. Among the wastes observed during the inspection were adhesives, 
paint stripper, empty pails coated with yellow lacquer, metal cuttings, 
sawdust, pencil cores, cosmetic powders and shoe linings. Results of 
the assessment indicated the presence of organic and inorganic 
compounds including lead, toluene, PCB, chlordane, and phenol. After 
evaluating the conditions of the landfill, EPA added Lewisburg Dump to 
the NPL in December 1982.
    In 1985, EPA contacted a group of companies, agencies, and 
individuals who were identified as potentially responsible for the 
wastes at the dump to address the problem. The City of Lewisburg and 
other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) formed the Lewisburg 
Environmental Response Committee (LERC) to conduct a Remedial 
Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) on the site. The study was 
conducted under the terms of an Administrative Order on Consent which 
the PRPs entered into with EPA.
    The RI/FS, which was completed in 1990, confirmed the presence of 
contaminants at the site. Organic and inorganic compounds were detected 
in the landfill soil, shallow aquifers beneath the site, and in the 
abandoned quarry pond.
    The most prevalent organic contaminants at the site were bis(2-
ethylhexyl)phthalate, (DEHP), methylene chloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, 
4-methyl-2-pentanone, 2-butanone, carbon disulfide, and toluene. The 
most common inorganic contaminants were copper, chromium, aluminum, 
arsenic, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, barium, and zinc. Of these 
contaminants, only DEHP and copper were detected at levels of 
significant concern. No contaminants were detected at appreciable 
concentrations outside the site.
    The RI/FS results indicated that, although contaminant 
concentrations were generally insignificant, the wide variety of the 
compounds was of concern. Other concerns noted were that the compounds 
had the potential to become exposed by landfill cap deterioration, the 
open access to the site and possible disturbance of landfill 
constituents. In addition, there was potential for increased 
groundwater contamination and leachate generation if site conditions 
were not improved.
    Special studies, including well surveys and dye trace analyses were 
conducted in the area of the site to evaluate groundwater conditions 
since most residences had water wells. The well survey identified 123 
households within a 2 mile radius of the site with a minimum of one 
well on each property. Approximately 70 of these households were 
utilizing groundwater from wells for domestic or livestock purposes. 
However, most residences near the site were connected to the municipal 
water supply. No industrial or municipal wells were found in the survey 
area. The dye trace studies did not indicate an immediate effect of the 
site on the domestic wells.
    In order to alleviate potential adverse effects of the site on 
human health and the environment, the RI/FS evaluated several possible 
remedial measures. Based on the results, EPA issued a Record of 
Decision (ROD) in September 1990, which described the remedy selected 
for the site. The major components of the selected remedy were: (1) 
removal and disposal of all site surface debris, (2) removal and 
disposal of all debris in the quarry pond, (3) replacement of plastic 
test-pit caps with landfill cap material, (4) regrading of the landfill 
cap, (5) implementation of institutional controls, and (6) long-term 
monitoring and analysis.
    Soon after the ROD was issued, EPA requested the PRPS to implement 
and fund the selected remedy. The PRPs agreed and signed a Consent 
Decree in 1991 to perform the work. All remedial activities were 
completed between September 4, 1992, and September 20, 1993. The 
Remedial Action Report submitted by the PRPs indicated that 382 cubic 
yards of debris/soil, 172 tires, 50 empty drums and 2 drums containing 
lead paint and sludge were removed from the site. These were disposed 
of at properly permitted facilities. EPA and TDEC performed a final 
site work inspection in September 1993, and determined that the 
Remedial Action (RA) had been successfully executed.
    Following the RA completion, the PRPs initiated site maintenance 
and monitoring activities, including regular site inspection and 
groundwater sampling. Laboratory results and other reports on these 
activities have confirmed that the cleanup work at Lewisburg Dump was 
successful and that the site no longer poses a threat to human health 
or the environment.
    The PRPs will continue to monitor the groundwater periodically and 
report results to EPA as stipulated in the 1991 Consent Decree. TDEC 
will provide necessary oversight.
    The Consent Decree required the PRPs to place deed restrictions on 
the property. The deed restrictions were recorded with the Office of 
the Hamilton County Register on August 19, 1993.
    Throughout this project, EPA conducted active community relations 
activities to ensure that the local residents were well informed about 
the different activities occurring at the site. These included the 
development of Community Relations Plans, public meetings, and routine 
publications of progress report fact sheets. A public meeting 
presenting the Proposed Plan was held on July 25, 1990 in Lewisburg, 
Tennessee. Public comments on the selected remedy were addressed in the 
1990 ROD, and site information was placed at the repository in a local 
library. A Pre-Construction meeting was held on August 17, 1992 in 
Lewisburg to discuss the start of cleanup activities with the 
community. In December 1993, EPA announced the end of site cleanup 
activities in the local newspaper after the final RA inspection.
    EPA provided oversight and involved the State in the evaluation and 
approval of work conducted by the PRPs at the site. The Remedial Design 
(RD), RA contract, and RA Work Plan were carefully reviewed by EPA and 
TDEC for compliance with all quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) 
procedures. EPA reviewed or developed site evaluations, project plans, 
technical and material specifications, construction, installation, 
testing, and sampling requirements and procedures 

[[Page 65618]]
for all laboratory analyses. Work Plans were developed as necessary by 
contractors which specified appropriate QA/QC measures for all cleanup 
activities. EPA reviewed and approved the QA/QC plans which, in 
general, were based on the protocols in the U.S. EPA, Region IV.
    Consistent with EPA guidance, a five year review of this project is 
necessary to ensure continued protection of human health and the 
environment. The statutory review will be conducted according to the 
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Directive 9355.7-02, 
``Structure and Components of the Five year Reviews''.
    The five-year period begins with the date of RA contract award 
which, for this project, is September 8, 1992. Therefore, the review 
should be completed prior to September 8, 1997.
    In conclusion, EPA, with the concurrence of the State, has 
determined that all appropriate remedial actions at the Lewisburg Dump 
site under CERCLA have been completed. The site no longer poses a 
threat to human health or the environment. Therefore, EPA proposes to 
delete the site from the NPL and requests public comments on the 
proposal.

    Dated: November 27, 1995.
Patrick M. Tobin,
Acting Regional Administrator, USEPA, Region IV.
[FR Doc. 95-30798 Filed 12-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P