Document ID: EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0011-0068
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2018-09-12T04:00Z

RESPONSIVENESS SUMMARY
                               September 5, 2018

 Introduction 
A Notice of Intent to Delete the Union Chemical Co., Inc. Superfund Site (the Site) was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2018, (83 FR 34508).  The publication of this notice was intended to inform the public that EPA planned to delete the Site from the National Priorities List (NPL), and provide a 30-day public comment period on the proposed deletion.  The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was August 20, 2018.  Two written comments were received.  No phone comments or inquiries were received.  The two written comments are available in the Site information repository identified below.  All public comments were considered in EPA's final decision to delete the Site from the NPL.
Responsiveness Summary 
This Responsiveness Summary has been prepared to provide responses to comments submitted to EPA during the 30-day public comment period regarding the Notice of Intent to Delete (83 FR 34508).  The original comments, which are summarized below, are available at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND -1989-0011, with the support materials under document type "Public Submissions", and at the Site information repository at the following address:  U.S. EPA Region 1, Superfund Records Center, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109. 
Summary of Comment from an Anonymous Person: 
The first comment was posted on regulations.gov on July 20, 2018 as an attached file.  The commenter stated that the Site should not be deleted for the following reasons: (1) groundwater contamination is being left at the Site inappropriately under EPA's 2013 technical impracticability determination and the proposed Site deletion; and (2) the implementation of the Declaration of Environmental Covenant (deed restriction) on the Site properties was done without public oversight.
Response: 
EPA's remedial efforts at the Site from 1996 to 2005 were unable to restore the groundwater to drinking water quality.  In November 2013, after a public comment period, EPA issued a Record of Decision Amendment (ROD Amendment) in which it waived groundwater cleanup levels due to technical impracticability.  The ROD Amendment was necessary because (1) the original groundwater pump-and-treat remedy had reached the limits of its effectiveness, (2) three additional  innovative in situ technologies had proven unsuccessful in attaining the groundwater cleanup standards, and (3) a technical evaluation of cleanup alternatives indicated that no technology was available for achieving groundwater cleanup standards in a reasonable timeframe (in this case, under 300 years) due to Site-specific hydrogeological and contaminant conditions.  Waiver of groundwater cleanup standards due to technical impracticability is one of six allowable waivers specified in CERCLA Section 121(d)(4)(C), 42 U.S.C. 9621(d)(4)(C) and the National Contingency Plan, 40 C.F. R. 300.430(f)(1)(ii)(C)(3).  EPA received concurrence from the State and only positive comments from the public on the ROD Amendment.  

Despite the waiver, due EPA's remedial efforts, groundwater contamination at the Site, as measured by monitoring data, has been greatly decreased.  The residual groundwater contamination is located beneath a portion of the Site and is in a stable state, not expanding in area.  Groundwater monitoring and Five-Year Reviews to ensure the remaining groundwater contamination does not pose a threat to human health will continue indefinitely.  Groundwater monitoring information is publicly available, being documented in Five-Year Reviews and the Final Close-Out Report for the Site in the deletion docket/information repository.
EPA's 1990 Record of Decision (ROD) for the Site, which was subject to a public comment period, required institutional controls, such as a deed or zoning restrictions to prevent ingestion of groundwater.  The ROD Amendment, also subject to a public comment period, adjusted this institutional control requirement with more specifics on the land use controls to be included in the environmental deed restriction on the Site properties.  EPA presented about the modified approach, including the proposed deed restriction, to the Town of Hope community in formal and informal meetings before the ROD Amendment.  As noted above, EPA only received positive comments about its proposed revision to the remedy. 

After the 2013 ROD Amendment, the Town of Hope voted at its 2015 Annual Town Meeting against acquiring the Site properties.  In August 2017, using Maine's Uniform Environmental Covenant Act, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) worked with the Maine Attorney General's office and EPA to draft and record a Declaration of Environmental Covenants in the chain of title for the Site properties, consistent with the requirements of the ROD Amendment.

Summary of Comment from an Anonymous Person: 
The second comment was posted on regulations.gov on July 22, 2018 as an attached file.  The commenter offered the perspective that the decision to delete the Site was a political decision ultimately coming from the White House.
Response: 
The chain of events leading to the proposed deletion of the Site did not begin with the current administration, but with the 2013 ROD Amendment.  In waiving the groundwater cleanup standards, all remediation goals selected in the original 1990 ROD had been achieved.  Therefore, EPA and MEDEP subsequently set about implementing the deed restriction for the Site properties in accordance with the 1990 ROD and 2013 ROD Amendment.  After the Declaration of Environmental Covenant was recorded in August 2017, per 2011 EPA guidance (Close Out Procedures for National Priorities List Sites), the Site became eligible for deletion, and EPA took the subsequent step to issue the Notice of Intent to Delete.