Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0486-0006
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2023-08-01T04:00Z

Responsiveness Summary for the Partial Deletion
of the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany Superfund Site, Operable Unit 3 Soils
Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, Atlanta, Georgia
Introduction
A Notice of Intent to Partially Delete (Notice) the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (the Site, EPA Identification GA7170023694) from the National Priorities List (NPL) was published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2023 (Document Citation 88 FR 10864). The publication of the Notice was intended to inform the public that EPA planned to partially delete Operable Unit 3 soils (OU3) from the NPL and provide a 30-day public comment period on the proposed partial deletion. The closing date for comments on the Notice was March 24, 2023. The comments received during the public comment period are considered in EPA's final decision to partially delete the Site from the NPL. During the public comment period, EPA received one written comment. The comment is available in the Information Repositories. No telephone inquiries were received. This document summarizes the comment submitted for EPA consideration of the partial deletion and presents the response provided by EPA to the comment.
Responsiveness Summary
	This Responsiveness Summary has been prepared to present the responses made to the written comment submitted to EPA during the 30-day public comment period regarding the Notice for the Site.  The original comment is summarized below and is available at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0486, with the support materials under document type "Public Submissions", and at the information repositories which are located at the following addresses: EPA Region 4, Regional Records Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW; Mail Code 9T25; Atlanta, Georgia 30303 and the Dougherty County Public Library; 300 Pine Avenue; Albany, Georgia 31701.
Summary of Comment
Emily McDaniel commented on the frequency of conducting Superfund site reviews. The comment, however, presented no specific concerns related to the Site. 
EPA Response to the Comment
EPA appreciates the comment submitted regarding the Site and the proposal for its partial deletion. In reviewing the comment, EPA will respond to three points that were raised which include (1) the collaboration between EPA and the state to maintain and restore NPL Sites in a consistent and legally-sound manner; (2) the requirement of EPA conducting five-year reviews on NPL Sites; and (3) the recommendation to change frequency of conducting the five-year reviews in areas or sites that are deleted from the NPL.
The commentor acknowledges the state and EPA collaboration involved in determining the areas of Superfund Sites that are eligible for deletion considering human health and the environment. EPA concurs with the commentor's statement that such collaboration ensures consistency in managing the remedial efforts conducted at sites placed on the NPL with the intention of returning the sites' condition to its original use. The remedial efforts conducted at the Marine Corps Logistics Base were managed by the owner of the Site, the U.S. Navy, and were overseen by the regulators, EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD). As a part of its managing the Site's remedial efforts, the U.S. Navy submitted to the regulators monthly groundwater monitoring reports; quarterly inspection reports; and annual operations and maintenance reports. These reports provided the regulators and public a `check up' status of the remedial efforts. The conclusions from these reports support the protectiveness determinations presented in the five-year reviews.
The commentor also acknowledges the five-year review process which serves as a regularly scheduled `check up' to evaluate the protectiveness of the remedy at NPL sites. To support the commentor's statement, CERCLA §121(c) and National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300.430(f)(4)(ii), specify the timeframe of conducting the five-year reviews. The regulations read:

CERCLA §121(c): "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. 

NCP, 40 CFR Part 300.430(f)(4)(ii): "If a remedial action is selected that results in hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining at the site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted is exposure, the lead agency shall review such action no less than every five years after the initiation of the selected remedial action."

The comment also mentions that if EPA and the state agree to delete a site from the NPL by determining that the required actions have been met, it is not necessary for EPA to conduct further five-year reviews at the site. EPA and GAEPD concurred with the U.S. Navy's determination that the remedies constructed at OU3 are protective of human health and the environment in the Site's Fifth Five-Year Review issued in 2021. The 2021 five-year review protectiveness determination was based on the soil cleanup levels having achieved Unlimited Use/Unrestricted Exposure (UU/UE); a level where no contamination is present. The 1997 Final Remedial Action Report for Building 7100 Polychlorinated Biphenyls Area and Chrome Plating Spill Area within OU3 as well as the 2021 Final Remedial Action Completion Report for Potential Source of Contamination 16 document the achievement of UU/UE in the two areas that compose OU3. The commentor recommended that in such instances where areas are deleted from the NPL that no further `check ups' be required. The NCP requires five-year reviews to be conducted as long as contaminants remain at levels that restrict the use of the site or area of the site. As the soil contaminant levels present at OU3 achieved levels that allow for UU/UE, this area of the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany Superfund Site is available for partial deletion from the NPL and, therefore, will not require subsequent five-year reviews.
In considering the Site's OU3 soil cleanup levels having achieved UU/UE, upon the closing of the public comment period, this portion of the Site will be deleted from the NPL. Furthermore, no subsequent five-year reviews will be required to be conducted at the Site's OU3.