National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Deletion of the Reasor Chemical Company Superfund Site, 36844-36848 [2018-16244]
Download as PDF
36844
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules
completed and available in the local
repository or from the State or EPA.
• Monthly site status summaries that
were made available to the public or
more recently, updates to site activities
made on the site web page available on
the internet.
• September 23, 2010, newspaper
article in the Albuquerque Journal
concerning the closure of the General
Electric plant.
• Discussion of the site at public
meetings associated with the Sunport
Boulevard Extension from
approximately 2010 to the present.
• Fact sheets and public notices have
been provided in both English and
Spanish.
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 42 U.S.C.
9601–9657; E.O. 13626, 77 FR 56749, 3 CFR,
2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757,
3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52
FR 2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193.
Determination That the Criteria for
Deletion Have Been Met
National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Pollution Contingency
Plan; National Priorities List: Deletion
of the Reasor Chemical Company
Superfund Site
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
The implemented remedies have
achieved the degree of cleanup or
protection specified in the OU1, OU2,
and OU5 RODs for the portions of the
Site proposed for deletion. The selected
remedial action goals and associated
cleanup levels for the OU1, OU2, and
OU5 portions of the Site proposed for
deletion are consistent with EPA policy
and guidance. No further Superfund
response for the OU1, OU2, and OU5
portions of the Site proposed for
deletion are needed to protect human
health and the environment. The State
of New Mexico, in an August 11, 2017,
letter from the New Mexico
Environment Department, concurred
with the proposed partial deletion of the
OU1, OU2, and OU5 portions of the Site
from the NPL.
The NCP specifies that EPA may
delete a site from the NPL if all
appropriate response under CERCLA
has been implemented and no further
response action is appropriate. 40 CFR
300.425(e)(1)(ii). EPA, with the
concurrence of the State of New Mexico,
through NMED, believes that this
criterion for the deletion of the OU1,
OU2, and OU5 portions of the Site has
been met and the OU1, OU2, and OU5
portions of the Site no longer pose a
threat to public health or the
environment. Consequently, EPA is
proposing to delete the OU1, OU2, and
OU5 portions of the Site from the NPL.
Documents supporting this action are
available in the Docket.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous
waste, Hazardous substances,
Intergovernmental relations, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Jul 30, 2018
Jkt 244001
Dated: July 19, 2018.
Arturo Blanco,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2018–16257 Filed 7–30–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[EPA–HQ–SFUND–2002–0001; FRL–9981–
51—Region 4]
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 4 is issuing a
Notice of Intent to Delete the Reasor
Chemical Company Superfund Site
(site) located in Castle Hayne, New
Hanover County, North Carolina, from
the National Priorities List (NPL) and
requests public comments on this
proposed action. The NPL, promulgated
pursuant to section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is
an appendix of the National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and
the State of North Carolina, through the
North Carolina Department of
Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), have
determined that all appropriate
response actions under CERCLA have
been completed. However, this deletion
does not preclude future actions under
Superfund.
DATES: Comments must be received by
August 30, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID no. EPA–HQ–
SFUND–2002–0001, by one of the
following methods:
• https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments
cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish
any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00053
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
• Email: URQUHARTFOSTER.SAMANTHA@EPA.GOV.
• Mail: Samantha Urquhart-Foster,
Remedial Project Manager, Remediation
and Site Evaluation Branch, Superfund
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960.
• Hand delivery: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960.
Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Docket’s normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID no. EPA–HQ–SFUND–2002–
0001. The https://www.regulations.gov
website is an ‘‘anonymous access’’
system, which means EPA will not
know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the
body of your comment. If you send an
email comment directly to EPA without
going through https://
www.regulations.gov, your email
address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment
that is placed in the public docket and
made available on the internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA
recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in
the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA
cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact
you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your comment.
Electronic files should avoid the use of
special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or
viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket
are listed in the https://
www.regulations.gov index. Although
listed in the index, some information is
not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other
information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other
E:\FR\FM\31JYP1.SGM
31JYP1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules
material, such as copyrighted material,
will be publicly available only in the
hard copy. Publicly available docket
materials are available either
electronically in https://
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at:
• U.S. EPA Record Center, attention:
Ms. Tina Terrell, Atlanta Federal Center,
61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia
30303–8960. Phone: 404–562–8835.
Hours: 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Monday through
Friday by appointment only; and
• New Hanover County Library, 201
Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North
Carolina 28401. Phone: 910–798–6391.
Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through
Saturday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Samantha Urquhart-Foster, Remedial
Project Manager, Remediation and Site
Evaluation Branch, Superfund Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta,
Georgia 30303–8960. Phone: 404–562–
8760, email: URQUHARTFOSTER.SAMANTHA@EPA.GOV.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
demonstrates how it meets the deletion
criteria.
Table of Contents
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures apply to
deletion of the Site:
(1) EPA consulted with the State
before developing this Notice of Intent
to Delete;
(2) EPA has provided the State 30
working days for review of this notice
prior to publication of it today;
(3) In accordance with the criteria
discussed above, EPA has determined
that no further response is appropriate;
(4) The State of North Carolina,
through the NCDEQ, has concurred with
deletion of the Site from the NPL.
(5) Concurrently with the publication
of this Notice of Intent to Delete in the
Federal Register, a notice is being
published in a major local newspaper,
the Wilmington Star-News. The
newspaper notice announces the 30-day
public comment period concerning the
Notice of Intent to Delete the site from
the NPL.
(6) The EPA placed copies of
documents supporting the proposed
deletion in the deletion docket and
made these items available for public
inspection and copying at the Site
information repositories identified
above.
If comments are received within the
30-day public comment period on this
document, EPA will evaluate and
respond appropriately to the comments
before making a final decision to delete.
If necessary, EPA will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary to address
any significant public comments
received. After the public comment
period, if EPA determines it is still
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region 4 announces its intent to
delete the Reasor Chemical Company
Superfund 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), which EPA
promulgated pursuant to section 105 of
the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability
Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended.
EPA maintains the NPL as the list of
sites 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
(Fund). As described in 40 CFR
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted
from the NPL remain eligible for Fundfinanced remedial actions if future
conditions warrant such actions.
EPA will accept comments on the
proposal to delete this site for thirty (30)
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 the Reasor Chemical
Company Superfund Site and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Jul 30, 2018
Jkt 244001
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. In making such a
determination pursuant to 40 CFR
300.425(e), EPA will consider, in
consultation with the State, whether any
of the following criteria have been met:
i. Responsible parties or other persons
have implemented all appropriate
response actions required;
ii. all appropriate Fund-financed
response under CERCLA has been
implemented, and no further response
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, the taking
of remedial measures is not appropriate.
PO 00000
Frm 00054
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
36845
appropriate to delete the Site, the
Regional Administrator will publish a
final Notice of Deletion in the Federal
Register. Public notices, public
submissions and copies of the
Responsiveness Summary, if prepared,
will be made available to interested
parties and in the site information
repositories listed above.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does
not itself create, alter, or revoke any
individual’s rights or obligations.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not
in any way alter EPA’s right to take
enforcement actions, as appropriate.
The NPL is designed primarily for
informational purposes and to assist
EPA management. Section 300.425(e)(3)
of the NCP states that the deletion of a
site from the NPL does not preclude
eligibility for future response actions,
should future conditions warrant such
actions.
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
The following information provides
EPA’s rationale for deleting the Site
from the NPL:
Site Background and History
The Reasor Chemical Company Site
(EPA ID: NCD986187094) is located at
5100 North College Road (Hwy. 132), in
Castle Hayne, New Hanover County,
North Carolina. Castle Hayne is
approximately 13 miles north of
Wilmington, NC. The site is an
abandoned stump rendering facility,
which operated from 1959 to 1972
under the name of Reasor Chemical
Company. The site property consists of
one parcel of 25.59 acres. A fire and
possible explosion occurred on the
property on April 7, 1972, which
damaged and destroyed the remaining
buildings and material on the site
property. The property currently is
unused, unoccupied, and covered with
native brush and secondary growth
forest.
The former Reasor Chemical
Company reportedly produced
turpentine, pine resin, pitch, tall oil,
pine oil, camphor, pine tar, and
charcoal from pine tree stumps. It is
believed that the facility used various
solvents to extract raw product from
chipped stumps, distilling the extract
into separate product fractions. The
solvents used in the extraction process
were likely stored on-site in 55-gallon
drums, the remains of which were in a
surface drum disposal area near the
center of the property. It is thought that
four of the five onsite ponds were used
in the manufacturing process. Those
four ponds contained sediments with
elevated concentrations of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), semi-
E:\FR\FM\31JYP1.SGM
31JYP1
36846
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules
volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)
including polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), and inorganic
compounds. An area thought to have
been used to store scrap copper metal
was also present, which had elevated
concentrations of copper and lead.
EPA proposed listing the site on the
NPL on September 13, 2001 (66 FR
47612), and finalized the listing on
September 5, 2002 (67 FR 56757). The
property is currently undeveloped. The
Site is currently zoned industrial.
Remedial Investigation and Feasibility
Study (RI/FS)
During 1996 through 2002, Roy F.
Weston, Inc. (WESTON) performed the
Remedial Investigation/Feasibility
Study (RI/FS) for EPA. During 2000
through 2002, EPA Region 4’s Science
and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD)
completed the Ecological Risk
Assessment (ERA). Investigations at the
site revealed the presence of metals,
VOCs, and SVOCs above risk-based
screening values.
The human health risk assessment
identified risks for potential future onsite workers and residents. These risks
were primarily associated with drinking
shallow groundwater and ingestion of or
dermal contact with soils. The
ecological risk assessment indicated that
risks were posed to ecological receptors
from contact with or ingestion of surface
water, soil, and sediment.
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
Selected Remedy
EPA’s Record of Decision (ROD) was
signed on September 26, 2002, and the
North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources,
(now known as the North Carolina
Department of Environmental Quality
(NCDEQ)), concurred with the selected
remedy. EPA revised the remedy in a
ROD Amendment dated June 1, 2007.
The amended selected remedy included
the following:
• Soil and sediment: Excavation and
off-site disposal, backfill the excavated
soil areas and vegetate with native plant
species, and return the former ponds to
wetland habitats.
• Surface water: On-site treatment
and disposal.
• Groundwater: Backfill the drum
disposal area with an alkaline substance
to raise the pH of shallow groundwater,
perform annual monitoring of
groundwater to determine if
contaminants of concern (COCs)
continue to be elevated, and attach a
‘‘Declaration of Perpetual Land Use
Restrictions’’ to the property title that
prohibits the use of shallow
groundwater for any purpose.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Jul 30, 2018
Jkt 244001
The Remedial Action Objectives
(RAOs) for the site were:
• Sediment: Prevent further migration
of contaminants from sediment to
groundwater and surface water above
levels exceeding groundwater and
surface water clean-up goals; eliminate
exposure of ecological receptors to
contaminated sediment; achieve
ecological risk-based sediment clean-up
goals for: Methyl ethyl ketone, toluene,
(3 and/or 4)-methylphenol, total PAHs,
and copper.
• Surface water: Prevent further
migration of contaminants above cleanup goals from Ponds 1, 2, 3 and 4, to
soil, groundwater and down-gradient
surface water bodies; eliminate
exposure to contaminated surface water
above levels exceeding clean-up goals
by aquatic receptors; achieve the North
Carolina Surface Water Quality
Standards (NCAC Title 15A, Chapter 2,
Subchapter 2B.0100 and 2B.0200) in
Ponds 1, 2, 3 and 4 for: Copper, lead,
iron and zinc.
• Soil: Prevent further migration of
contaminants from soil to groundwater
and surface water above levels
exceeding groundwater and surface
water clean-up goals; eliminate
unacceptable risk to human health and
the environment; achieve the human
health and ecological risk based cleanup goals for: Benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b &/
or k)fluoranthene, dibenzo(a,h)
anthracene, antimony, copper and lead.
• Groundwater: Prevent human
consumption of contaminated
groundwater until risk-based standards
for aluminum, and Safe Drinking Water
Act’s Maximum Contaminant Levels
(MCLs) for beryllium, chromium and
nickel, are attained.
Response Actions
The Remedial Design (RD) was
completed by EPA between September
2002 and January 2004. EPA and the
Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)
entered a Consent Decree in which the
PRPs agreed to conduct the Remedial
Action (RA). The PRPs began the RA on
June 4, 2007 utilizing the remedial
actions outlined in the 2007 ROD
Amendment. Apex Companies, LLC
(Apex) was retained by the PRPs and
performed all the of the RA work
described below. The RA for soil,
sediment and surface water was
completed in July 2007 and the
Preliminary Close-Out Report was
issued in September 2007. The Interim
Remedial Action and Final Remediation
Report, Revision 3, was issued in
August 2008.
Approximately 140,000 gallons of
contaminated water was treated and
discharged on site. Approximately 2,000
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
tons of contaminated soils and
sediments were excavated and disposed
of in off-site landfills. After excavation
and confirmation sampling, the ponds
were allowed to naturally refill with
water and vegetate. The soil excavation
areas were backfilled and allowed to
naturally vegetate. Lime was applied in
the area of monitoring wells MW–7S
and MW–7D in order to increase the
groundwater pH. Increasing the pH of
groundwater is intended to lower
concentrations of metals in the
groundwater in this area. Institutional
controls in the form of a Declaration of
Perpetual Land Use Restriction were
filed with the property deed in 2008.
Annual sampling of groundwater
monitoring wells MW–7S and MW–7D
was performed when appropriate pH
and turbidity levels permitted.
Collection of samples for laboratory
analysis was only required if the pH was
between 7.2 and 8.5 using best efforts to
reduce turbidity. Annual sampling
events were attempted on February 11,
2008, January 28, 2009, December 7,
2009, and November 2, 2010. However,
samples were not collected during any
of the annual sampling events due to pH
conditions recorded below 7.2 units.
Apex returned to the site on May 18,
2011, to complete a groundwater
sampling event in accordance with the
Amended ROD, which stated that
regardless of the pH levels, samples
were to be collected within five years
after initiation of remedial action. The
sampling event was conducted with the
intent that EPA could determine if the
clean-up goals had been achieved.
Based on the groundwater quality
results from the May 18, 2011, sampling
event, remedial actions had been
successful in achieving the cleanup
goals for beryllium and nickel in
groundwater. However, elevated
concentrations of aluminum and
chromium were still present above the
cleanup goals. Based on past
groundwater sampling results at the site,
there is a direct correlation between low
sample pH, high sample turbidity, and
elevated metal concentrations. Apex
returned to the site on November 12,
2012, to sample for metals in MW–7D
and MW–7S, collecting both an
unfiltered and filtered sample to address
turbidity. Due to a malfunctioning
pump at MW–7S, only MW–7D could be
sampled on November 12, 2012.
Elevated concentrations of aluminum
and chromium were still present above
the Amended ROD RAOs established for
the site in the unfiltered sample;
however, metal concentrations were
below Amended ROD RAOs established
for the site in the filtered sample.
E:\FR\FM\31JYP1.SGM
31JYP1
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules
Apex conducted groundwater
assessment activities at the site in
December 2015 and January 2016 to
fulfill the requirements of the Amended
ROD. The activities included the
advancement of two groundwater
monitoring wells installed immediately
adjacent to MW–7D and MW–7S, in
addition to the collection and analysis
of groundwater samples, both filtered
and unfiltered.
Replacement wells MW–7SR and
MW–7DR were installed to address
elevated turbidity levels. It was
suspected that there could have been
some damage to the existing well
screens which resulted in the influx of
sediment. Quarterly sampling was
conducted at MW–7SR and MW–7DR.
Results indicated that the COCs are not
present at concentration at or above
applicable Amended ROD clean up
goals. Based on the cancer slope factor
and oral reference dose for hexavalent
chromium being more stringent,
chromium was speciated during the
January 2016 sampling event and was
not detected above laboratory detection
limits in either MW–7SR or MW–7DR.
It was determined that hexavalent
chromium is not a COC and
concentrations of total chromium are
also below the Amended ROD clean up
goals. Apex completed the Final
Remedial Action Report Addendum in
November 2017.
As prescribed in the 2007 Amended
ROD, institutional controls (ICs) were
implemented in September 2008 with
the placement of a Declaration of
Perpetual Land Use Restrictions
(DPLUR) on the property deed. The
DPLUR requires annual notification to
NCDEQ and EPA confirming that the
DPLUR is still recorded in the Office of
the New Hanover County Register of
Deeds and that activities and conditions
at the site remain in compliance with
the land use restrictions. The land use
restrictions in the DPLUR state that
groundwater from the surficial aquifer
underlying the site may not be used for
any purpose. Groundwater located
beneath the confining layer shall not be
used as a source of potable water. Any
groundwater well or other device for
access to groundwater for any purpose
other than monitoring groundwater
quality must include an isolation seal
between the surficial aquifer and the
Peedee Formation aquifer located
below. The installation of groundwater
wells or other devices for access to
groundwater for any purpose other than
monitoring groundwater quality
requires prior approval by NCDEQ, or
its successor in function. The owner(s)
of the property must provide written
notification to EPA prior to seeking
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Jul 30, 2018
Jkt 244001
approval from NCDEQ for the
installation of groundwater wells.
Cleanup Levels
Cleanup goals were established to
achieve a 10 ¥5 (one in 100,000) excess
carcinogenic risk level for potential
future resident children (most
conservative risk category evaluated)
and/or a hazard quotient (HQ) of 1 for
potential resident children or ecological
receptors.
Surface Water: Although the
treatment system did not reduce
contaminant concentrations in surface
water to below cleanup goals during its
operation in 2007, the RAOs were
achieved for the following reasons:
• Migration of and aquatic receptor
exposure to contaminated surface water
was halted by
Æ treating all surface water in ponds
and land applying treated water;
Æ excavating contaminated soils to
residential cleanup standards;
Æ excavating contaminated sediments
to ecological cleanup goals and placing
18 to 60 inches of non-contaminated
soil over the base of the excavated
ponds; and
Æ allowing the ponds to refill
naturally.
Soil: Cleanup goals specified in the
2007 ROD Amendment for soil were
attained.
All confirmation sample results from
the soil excavation areas were below the
ROD-specified cleanup goals.
Sediment: Ten samples were collected
and analyzed to determine if cleanup
goals were met in the four sediment
excavation areas. Six confirmation
samples were collected from the four
excavated ponds in June 2007. One
sample was a duplicate of another
sample in Pond 3. The duplicate sample
result was within the same order of
magnitude as the sample from which it
was split. Because the laboratory
detection limits for (3 and/or 4)methylphenol and methyl ethyl ketone
(also known as butanone) were higher
than the cleanup goals, the four ponds
were resampled in August 2007 and
analyzed for these two COCs.
Cleanup goals for toluene and copper
were attained in all four ponds. The
cleanup goal for methyl ethyl ketone
(also known as 2-butanone) was attained
in ponds 1–3, and possibly pond 4. The
original confirmation sample collected
in June 2007 from pond 4 had a
concentration less than the laboratory
reporting limit of 100 micrograms per
kilogram (mg/kg), which is less than the
cleanup goal established in the 2007
ROD Amendment. However, the sample
collected in pond 4 in August 2007 did
not have a detectable concentration of
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
36847
methyl ethyl ketone but the laboratory
detection limit (268 mg/kg) was greater
than the cleanup goal of 137 mg/kg.
Methyl ethyl ketone was not detected in
any of the ponds. All ponds had at least
one sample which had a laboratory
detection limit that was lower than the
cleanup goal.
All samples collected from the
excavated ponds had concentrations of
(3 and/or 4)-methylphenol above
cleanup goals or the laboratory
detection limit was greater than the
cleanup goal. The low-level presence of
(3 and/or 4)-methylphenol in the soil
does not present a significant risk to
human health or the environment, and
further sampling and assessment is not
needed for the following reasons:
• Methylphenol is a naturally
occurring substance. Cresols
(methylphenols) are found in many
foods and in wood in this region of
North Carolina. The contaminant
presence at low-levels may be naturally
occurring and not site-related.
• The impacted soil was removed
from the lagoons and capped with 18 to
60 inches of clean fill. Therefore, the
surface water within the lagoons is not
in direct contact with impacted soil.
• The ROD clean-up goal of 50 mg/kg
for (3 and/or 4)-methlyphenol was
established based on ecological risk, not
human health risk. Any residual
contamination is at depths greater than
18 inches, and therefore there is no
exposure route for ecological receptors.
There is no obvious or adverse impact
to the ecology within the lagoons as
observed through the thriving aquatic
flora and fauna present within lagoons
over the last 11 years, since the time the
lagoons were remediated in 2007.
• The concentrations present in the
soil are below the EPA Regional
Screening Levels (RSLs) for residential
soils for methylphenol of 3,200
milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), which
is protective of human health.
The RAOs were achieved for the
following reasons:
• All confirmatory samples obtained
from ponds 1–4 were collected from
each basin’s clay liner.
• Each basin was subsequently
capped with 18 inches to 60 inches of
clean soil backfill.
• The RAs performed removed the
contaminated ecological exposure
medium, sediment, and subsequently
capped the underlying clay liner with
clean soil, thereby eliminating the
ecological exposure pathway for
sediments in the ponds and exposure to
remaining residual levels in the clay
layer, and thus any associated risk.
Soil or sediment samples have not
been collected since the RA. For the soil
E:\FR\FM\31JYP1.SGM
31JYP1
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
36848
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 147 / Tuesday, July 31, 2018 / Proposed Rules
excavation areas, restoration included
backfilling with soil, grading the areas
to provide drainage away from the areas,
revegetation with native rye grass and
spreading of wood chips over the area
for erosion control. Pond restoration
consisted of backfilling a portion of the
ponds, covering the banks of the
excavation and surrounding disturbed
areas with straw matting for erosion
control, and seeding with native rye
grass. During the final site inspection
conducted in April 2017, it was
observed that the excavation areas are
now restored with native brush and
secondary growth forest.
Groundwater: No COCs were detected
at concentrations above the Amended
ROD clean up goals in either sample
MW–7DR or MW–7SR during 2016
quarterly groundwater sampling. The
detected concentrations of these
compounds are generally significantly
less than the concentrations previously
identified in groundwater samples
collected at the Site in May 2011 and
November 2012. Aluminum, beryllium,
chromium, and nickel were either
detected at estimated concentrations
that are below the applicable criteria, or
were not detected above laboratory
detections limits in both the filtered and
unfiltered samples.
Due to the low turbidity of the
samples, the concentrations reported for
both filtered and unfiltered samples
were very similar. In addition to the
reductions in the observed
concentrations of the COCs, the pH
values were also higher than historic
values. The pH was measured at 3.81 in
MW–7SR versus historic values ranging
from 2.31 to 3.55 in MW–7S. The pH of
the sample collected at MW–7DR was
6.47 versus historic values measured as
low as 3.21.
In addition, pH values measured in
the newly installed wells are similar to
other sites in the Castle Hayne area.
Based on the findings of the January
2016 sampling event, Apex conducted
three additional quarterly sampling
events in April, July, and October 2016
to obtain sufficient data for site closure.
During these quarterly sampling events,
since the January 2016 sampling results
demonstrated that hexavalent chromium
was not a COC, the samples were only
analyzed for total chromium.
The monitoring data demonstrates
that remedial action objectives and
cleanup levels specified in the 2007
ROD Amendment are achieved. There
are no additional monitoring or
Operations and Maintenance of the
remedy required.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:40 Jul 30, 2018
Jkt 244001
Five-Year Reviews
The purpose of a five-year review
(FYR) is to evaluate the implementation
and performance of a remedy to
determine if the remedy is and will
continue to be protective of human
health and the environment. In
addition, FYR reports identify issues
found during the review, if any, and
document recommendations to address
them. EPA completed two policy FYRs
for the site in September 2012 and
September 2017. The 2017 FYR
determined that the remedy was
protective of human health and the
environment, and there were no issues
or recommendations. The 2017 FYR
concluded that no further FYRs are
planned for the site because all
impacted media have reached
Unlimited Use/Unrestricted Exposure
(UU/UE) categorization.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous
waste, Hazardous substances,
Intergovernmental relations, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 42 U.S.C.
9601–9657; E.O. 13626, 77 FR 56749, 3 CFR,
2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757,
3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52
FR 2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193.
Dated: July 17, 2018.
Onis ‘‘Trey’’ Glenn, III,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2018–16244 Filed 7–30–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
Community Involvement
47 CFR Chapter I
EPA has communicated with the
public through Fact Sheets, meetings,
internet postings, newspaper ads, and
answering email and phone inquiries.
Current Site information can be found at
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/
cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0405590.
Public participation activities have
been satisfied as required in CERCLA
Section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k) and
CERCLA Section 117, 42 U.S.C. 9617.
Documents in the deletion docket,
which the EPA relied on for
recommendation of the deletion from
the NPL, are available to the public in
the information repositories identified
above.
[CB Docket No. 18–31; DA 18–115]
Determination That the Site Meets the
Criteria for Deletion in the NCP
Region 4 has followed the procedures
required by 40 CFR 300.425(e) as
mentioned above and the implemented
remedy achieves the degree of cleanup
specified in the ROD for all pathways of
exposure. The information presented in
the Final Close-Out Report verifies that
the site has achieved the ROD
Amendment’s RAOs, and that all
cleanup actions specified in the ROD
Amendment were implemented. All
selected remedial action objectives and
associated cleanup levels are consistent
with agency policy and guidance. This
site meets all the site completion
requirements as specified in Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency Response
(OSWER) Directive 9320.22, Close-Out
Procedures for National Priorities List
Sites. No further Superfund response is
needed to protect human health and the
environment.
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Possible Revision or Elimination of
Rules
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Review of regulations;
comments requested.
AGENCY:
This document invites
members of the public to comment on
the Commission’s rules to be reviewed
pursuant to section 610 of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as
amended (RFA). The purpose of the
review is to determine whether
Commission rules whose ten-year
anniversary dates are in the years 2015–
2016, as contained in the Appendix,
should be continued without change,
amended, or rescinded in order to
minimize any significant impact the
rules may have on a substantial number
of small entities. Upon receipt of
comments from the public, the
Commission will evaluate those
comments and consider whether action
should be taken to rescind or amend the
relevant rule(s).
DATES: Comments may be filed on or
before October 29, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sharon K. Stewart, Women’s Outreach
Specialist, Office of Communications
Business Opportunities (OCBO), Federal
Communications Commission, (202)
418–0990. People with disabilities may
contact the FCC to request reasonable
accommodations (accessible format
documents, sign language interpreters,
CART, etc.) by email: fcc504@fcc.gov or
phone: 202–418–0530 or TTY: 202–418–
0432.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\31JYP1.SGM
31JYP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 147 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36844-36848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16244]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[EPA-HQ-SFUND-2002-0001; FRL-9981-51--Region 4]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List: Deletion of the Reasor Chemical Company
Superfund Site
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 is issuing
a Notice of Intent to Delete the Reasor Chemical Company Superfund Site
(site) located in Castle Hayne, New Hanover County, North Carolina,
from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on
this proposed action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil
and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and
the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of
Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), have determined that all appropriate
response actions under CERCLA have been completed. However, this
deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.
DATES: Comments must be received by August 30, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-2002-0001, by one of the following methods:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or
removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received
to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Email: [email protected].
Mail: Samantha Urquhart-Foster, Remedial Project Manager,
Remediation and Site Evaluation Branch, Superfund Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
Hand delivery: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
2002-0001. The https://www.regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an email comment directly to EPA without going through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket
and made available on the internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you
submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to
consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or
viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other
[[Page 36845]]
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only
in the hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available
either electronically in https://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at:
U.S. EPA Record Center, attention: Ms. Tina Terrell,
Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-
8960. Phone: 404-562-8835. Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday
by appointment only; and
New Hanover County Library, 201 Chestnut Street,
Wilmington, North Carolina 28401. Phone: 910-798-6391. Hours: 9 a.m.-5
p.m., Monday through Saturday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samantha Urquhart-Foster, Remedial
Project Manager, Remediation and Site Evaluation Branch, Superfund
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Phone: 404-562-8760, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region 4 announces its intent to delete the Reasor Chemical
Company Superfund 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), which EPA promulgated
pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. EPA
maintains the NPL as the list of sites 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 (Fund). As described in 40 CFR
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted from the NPL remain eligible
for Fund-financed remedial actions if future conditions warrant such
actions.
EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this site for
thirty (30) 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 the Reasor Chemical Company
Superfund Site and demonstrates how it meets the deletion criteria.
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. In making such a
determination pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e), EPA will consider, in
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have
been met:
i. Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
ii. all appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been
implemented, and no further response 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,
the taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures apply to deletion of the Site:
(1) EPA consulted with the State before developing this Notice of
Intent to Delete;
(2) EPA has provided the State 30 working days for review of this
notice prior to publication of it today;
(3) In accordance with the criteria discussed above, EPA has
determined that no further response is appropriate;
(4) The State of North Carolina, through the NCDEQ, has concurred
with deletion of the Site from the NPL.
(5) Concurrently with the publication of this Notice of Intent to
Delete in the Federal Register, a notice is being published in a major
local newspaper, the Wilmington Star-News. The newspaper notice
announces the 30-day public comment period concerning the Notice of
Intent to Delete the site from the NPL.
(6) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed
deletion in the deletion docket and made these items available for
public inspection and copying at the Site information repositories
identified above.
If comments are received within the 30-day public comment period on
this document, EPA will evaluate and respond appropriately to the
comments before making a final decision to delete. If necessary, EPA
will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public
comments received. After the public comment period, if EPA determines
it is still appropriate to delete the Site, the Regional Administrator
will publish a final Notice of Deletion in the Federal Register. Public
notices, public submissions and copies of the Responsiveness Summary,
if prepared, will be made available to interested parties and in the
site information repositories listed above.
Deletion of a site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. Deletion of a site from
the NPL does not in any way alter EPA's right to take enforcement
actions, as appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for
informational purposes and to assist EPA management. Section
300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion of a site from the
NPL does not preclude eligibility for future response actions, should
future conditions warrant such actions.
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
The following information provides EPA's rationale for deleting the
Site from the NPL:
Site Background and History
The Reasor Chemical Company Site (EPA ID: NCD986187094) is located
at 5100 North College Road (Hwy. 132), in Castle Hayne, New Hanover
County, North Carolina. Castle Hayne is approximately 13 miles north of
Wilmington, NC. The site is an abandoned stump rendering facility,
which operated from 1959 to 1972 under the name of Reasor Chemical
Company. The site property consists of one parcel of 25.59 acres. A
fire and possible explosion occurred on the property on April 7, 1972,
which damaged and destroyed the remaining buildings and material on the
site property. The property currently is unused, unoccupied, and
covered with native brush and secondary growth forest.
The former Reasor Chemical Company reportedly produced turpentine,
pine resin, pitch, tall oil, pine oil, camphor, pine tar, and charcoal
from pine tree stumps. It is believed that the facility used various
solvents to extract raw product from chipped stumps, distilling the
extract into separate product fractions. The solvents used in the
extraction process were likely stored on-site in 55-gallon drums, the
remains of which were in a surface drum disposal area near the center
of the property. It is thought that four of the five onsite ponds were
used in the manufacturing process. Those four ponds contained sediments
with elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
semi-
[[Page 36846]]
volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) including polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), and inorganic compounds. An area thought to have
been used to store scrap copper metal was also present, which had
elevated concentrations of copper and lead.
EPA proposed listing the site on the NPL on September 13, 2001 (66
FR 47612), and finalized the listing on September 5, 2002 (67 FR
56757). The property is currently undeveloped. The Site is currently
zoned industrial.
Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS)
During 1996 through 2002, Roy F. Weston, Inc. (WESTON) performed
the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for EPA. During
2000 through 2002, EPA Region 4's Science and Ecosystem Support
Division (SESD) completed the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA).
Investigations at the site revealed the presence of metals, VOCs, and
SVOCs above risk-based screening values.
The human health risk assessment identified risks for potential
future on-site workers and residents. These risks were primarily
associated with drinking shallow groundwater and ingestion of or dermal
contact with soils. The ecological risk assessment indicated that risks
were posed to ecological receptors from contact with or ingestion of
surface water, soil, and sediment.
Selected Remedy
EPA's Record of Decision (ROD) was signed on September 26, 2002,
and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources,
(now known as the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
(NCDEQ)), concurred with the selected remedy. EPA revised the remedy in
a ROD Amendment dated June 1, 2007. The amended selected remedy
included the following:
Soil and sediment: Excavation and off-site disposal,
backfill the excavated soil areas and vegetate with native plant
species, and return the former ponds to wetland habitats.
Surface water: On-site treatment and disposal.
Groundwater: Backfill the drum disposal area with an
alkaline substance to raise the pH of shallow groundwater, perform
annual monitoring of groundwater to determine if contaminants of
concern (COCs) continue to be elevated, and attach a ``Declaration of
Perpetual Land Use Restrictions'' to the property title that prohibits
the use of shallow groundwater for any purpose.
The Remedial Action Objectives (RAOs) for the site were:
Sediment: Prevent further migration of contaminants from
sediment to groundwater and surface water above levels exceeding
groundwater and surface water clean-up goals; eliminate exposure of
ecological receptors to contaminated sediment; achieve ecological risk-
based sediment clean-up goals for: Methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, (3
and/or 4)-methylphenol, total PAHs, and copper.
Surface water: Prevent further migration of contaminants
above clean-up goals from Ponds 1, 2, 3 and 4, to soil, groundwater and
down-gradient surface water bodies; eliminate exposure to contaminated
surface water above levels exceeding clean-up goals by aquatic
receptors; achieve the North Carolina Surface Water Quality Standards
(NCAC Title 15A, Chapter 2, Subchapter 2B.0100 and 2B.0200) in Ponds 1,
2, 3 and 4 for: Copper, lead, iron and zinc.
Soil: Prevent further migration of contaminants from soil
to groundwater and surface water above levels exceeding groundwater and
surface water clean-up goals; eliminate unacceptable risk to human
health and the environment; achieve the human health and ecological
risk based clean-up goals for: Benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b &/or
k)fluoranthene, dibenzo(a,h) anthracene, antimony, copper and lead.
Groundwater: Prevent human consumption of contaminated
groundwater until risk-based standards for aluminum, and Safe Drinking
Water Act's Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for beryllium, chromium
and nickel, are attained.
Response Actions
The Remedial Design (RD) was completed by EPA between September
2002 and January 2004. EPA and the Potentially Responsible Parties
(PRPs) entered a Consent Decree in which the PRPs agreed to conduct the
Remedial Action (RA). The PRPs began the RA on June 4, 2007 utilizing
the remedial actions outlined in the 2007 ROD Amendment. Apex
Companies, LLC (Apex) was retained by the PRPs and performed all the of
the RA work described below. The RA for soil, sediment and surface
water was completed in July 2007 and the Preliminary Close-Out Report
was issued in September 2007. The Interim Remedial Action and Final
Remediation Report, Revision 3, was issued in August 2008.
Approximately 140,000 gallons of contaminated water was treated and
discharged on site. Approximately 2,000 tons of contaminated soils and
sediments were excavated and disposed of in off-site landfills. After
excavation and confirmation sampling, the ponds were allowed to
naturally refill with water and vegetate. The soil excavation areas
were backfilled and allowed to naturally vegetate. Lime was applied in
the area of monitoring wells MW-7S and MW-7D in order to increase the
groundwater pH. Increasing the pH of groundwater is intended to lower
concentrations of metals in the groundwater in this area. Institutional
controls in the form of a Declaration of Perpetual Land Use Restriction
were filed with the property deed in 2008.
Annual sampling of groundwater monitoring wells MW-7S and MW-7D was
performed when appropriate pH and turbidity levels permitted.
Collection of samples for laboratory analysis was only required if the
pH was between 7.2 and 8.5 using best efforts to reduce turbidity.
Annual sampling events were attempted on February 11, 2008, January 28,
2009, December 7, 2009, and November 2, 2010. However, samples were not
collected during any of the annual sampling events due to pH conditions
recorded below 7.2 units.
Apex returned to the site on May 18, 2011, to complete a
groundwater sampling event in accordance with the Amended ROD, which
stated that regardless of the pH levels, samples were to be collected
within five years after initiation of remedial action. The sampling
event was conducted with the intent that EPA could determine if the
clean-up goals had been achieved.
Based on the groundwater quality results from the May 18, 2011,
sampling event, remedial actions had been successful in achieving the
cleanup goals for beryllium and nickel in groundwater. However,
elevated concentrations of aluminum and chromium were still present
above the cleanup goals. Based on past groundwater sampling results at
the site, there is a direct correlation between low sample pH, high
sample turbidity, and elevated metal concentrations. Apex returned to
the site on November 12, 2012, to sample for metals in MW-7D and MW-7S,
collecting both an unfiltered and filtered sample to address turbidity.
Due to a malfunctioning pump at MW-7S, only MW-7D could be sampled on
November 12, 2012. Elevated concentrations of aluminum and chromium
were still present above the Amended ROD RAOs established for the site
in the unfiltered sample; however, metal concentrations were below
Amended ROD RAOs established for the site in the filtered sample.
[[Page 36847]]
Apex conducted groundwater assessment activities at the site in
December 2015 and January 2016 to fulfill the requirements of the
Amended ROD. The activities included the advancement of two groundwater
monitoring wells installed immediately adjacent to MW-7D and MW-7S, in
addition to the collection and analysis of groundwater samples, both
filtered and unfiltered.
Replacement wells MW-7SR and MW-7DR were installed to address
elevated turbidity levels. It was suspected that there could have been
some damage to the existing well screens which resulted in the influx
of sediment. Quarterly sampling was conducted at MW-7SR and MW-7DR.
Results indicated that the COCs are not present at concentration at or
above applicable Amended ROD clean up goals. Based on the cancer slope
factor and oral reference dose for hexavalent chromium being more
stringent, chromium was speciated during the January 2016 sampling
event and was not detected above laboratory detection limits in either
MW-7SR or MW-7DR.
It was determined that hexavalent chromium is not a COC and
concentrations of total chromium are also below the Amended ROD clean
up goals. Apex completed the Final Remedial Action Report Addendum in
November 2017.
As prescribed in the 2007 Amended ROD, institutional controls (ICs)
were implemented in September 2008 with the placement of a Declaration
of Perpetual Land Use Restrictions (DPLUR) on the property deed. The
DPLUR requires annual notification to NCDEQ and EPA confirming that the
DPLUR is still recorded in the Office of the New Hanover County
Register of Deeds and that activities and conditions at the site remain
in compliance with the land use restrictions. The land use restrictions
in the DPLUR state that groundwater from the surficial aquifer
underlying the site may not be used for any purpose. Groundwater
located beneath the confining layer shall not be used as a source of
potable water. Any groundwater well or other device for access to
groundwater for any purpose other than monitoring groundwater quality
must include an isolation seal between the surficial aquifer and the
Peedee Formation aquifer located below. The installation of groundwater
wells or other devices for access to groundwater for any purpose other
than monitoring groundwater quality requires prior approval by NCDEQ,
or its successor in function. The owner(s) of the property must provide
written notification to EPA prior to seeking approval from NCDEQ for
the installation of groundwater wells.
Cleanup Levels
Cleanup goals were established to achieve a 10 -5 (one
in 100,000) excess carcinogenic risk level for potential future
resident children (most conservative risk category evaluated) and/or a
hazard quotient (HQ) of 1 for potential resident children or ecological
receptors.
Surface Water: Although the treatment system did not reduce
contaminant concentrations in surface water to below cleanup goals
during its operation in 2007, the RAOs were achieved for the following
reasons:
Migration of and aquatic receptor exposure to contaminated
surface water was halted by
[cir] treating all surface water in ponds and land applying treated
water;
[cir] excavating contaminated soils to residential cleanup
standards;
[cir] excavating contaminated sediments to ecological cleanup goals
and placing 18 to 60 inches of non-contaminated soil over the base of
the excavated ponds; and
[cir] allowing the ponds to refill naturally.
Soil: Cleanup goals specified in the 2007 ROD Amendment for soil
were attained.
All confirmation sample results from the soil excavation areas were
below the ROD-specified cleanup goals.
Sediment: Ten samples were collected and analyzed to determine if
cleanup goals were met in the four sediment excavation areas. Six
confirmation samples were collected from the four excavated ponds in
June 2007. One sample was a duplicate of another sample in Pond 3. The
duplicate sample result was within the same order of magnitude as the
sample from which it was split. Because the laboratory detection limits
for (3 and/or 4)-methylphenol and methyl ethyl ketone (also known as
butanone) were higher than the cleanup goals, the four ponds were
resampled in August 2007 and analyzed for these two COCs.
Cleanup goals for toluene and copper were attained in all four
ponds. The cleanup goal for methyl ethyl ketone (also known as 2-
butanone) was attained in ponds 1-3, and possibly pond 4. The original
confirmation sample collected in June 2007 from pond 4 had a
concentration less than the laboratory reporting limit of 100
micrograms per kilogram ([micro]g/kg), which is less than the cleanup
goal established in the 2007 ROD Amendment. However, the sample
collected in pond 4 in August 2007 did not have a detectable
concentration of methyl ethyl ketone but the laboratory detection limit
(268 [micro]g/kg) was greater than the cleanup goal of 137 [micro]g/kg.
Methyl ethyl ketone was not detected in any of the ponds. All ponds had
at least one sample which had a laboratory detection limit that was
lower than the cleanup goal.
All samples collected from the excavated ponds had concentrations
of (3 and/or 4)-methylphenol above cleanup goals or the laboratory
detection limit was greater than the cleanup goal. The low-level
presence of (3 and/or 4)-methylphenol in the soil does not present a
significant risk to human health or the environment, and further
sampling and assessment is not needed for the following reasons:
Methylphenol is a naturally occurring substance. Cresols
(methylphenols) are found in many foods and in wood in this region of
North Carolina. The contaminant presence at low-levels may be naturally
occurring and not site-related.
The impacted soil was removed from the lagoons and capped
with 18 to 60 inches of clean fill. Therefore, the surface water within
the lagoons is not in direct contact with impacted soil.
The ROD clean-up goal of 50 [micro]g/kg for (3 and/or 4)-
methlyphenol was established based on ecological risk, not human health
risk. Any residual contamination is at depths greater than 18 inches,
and therefore there is no exposure route for ecological receptors.
There is no obvious or adverse impact to the ecology within the lagoons
as observed through the thriving aquatic flora and fauna present within
lagoons over the last 11 years, since the time the lagoons were
remediated in 2007.
The concentrations present in the soil are below the EPA
Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) for residential soils for methylphenol
of 3,200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), which is protective of human
health.
The RAOs were achieved for the following reasons:
All confirmatory samples obtained from ponds 1-4 were
collected from each basin's clay liner.
Each basin was subsequently capped with 18 inches to 60
inches of clean soil backfill.
The RAs performed removed the contaminated ecological
exposure medium, sediment, and subsequently capped the underlying clay
liner with clean soil, thereby eliminating the ecological exposure
pathway for sediments in the ponds and exposure to remaining residual
levels in the clay layer, and thus any associated risk.
Soil or sediment samples have not been collected since the RA. For
the soil
[[Page 36848]]
excavation areas, restoration included backfilling with soil, grading
the areas to provide drainage away from the areas, revegetation with
native rye grass and spreading of wood chips over the area for erosion
control. Pond restoration consisted of backfilling a portion of the
ponds, covering the banks of the excavation and surrounding disturbed
areas with straw matting for erosion control, and seeding with native
rye grass. During the final site inspection conducted in April 2017, it
was observed that the excavation areas are now restored with native
brush and secondary growth forest.
Groundwater: No COCs were detected at concentrations above the
Amended ROD clean up goals in either sample MW-7DR or MW-7SR during
2016 quarterly groundwater sampling. The detected concentrations of
these compounds are generally significantly less than the
concentrations previously identified in groundwater samples collected
at the Site in May 2011 and November 2012. Aluminum, beryllium,
chromium, and nickel were either detected at estimated concentrations
that are below the applicable criteria, or were not detected above
laboratory detections limits in both the filtered and unfiltered
samples.
Due to the low turbidity of the samples, the concentrations
reported for both filtered and unfiltered samples were very similar. In
addition to the reductions in the observed concentrations of the COCs,
the pH values were also higher than historic values. The pH was
measured at 3.81 in MW-7SR versus historic values ranging from 2.31 to
3.55 in MW-7S. The pH of the sample collected at MW-7DR was 6.47 versus
historic values measured as low as 3.21.
In addition, pH values measured in the newly installed wells are
similar to other sites in the Castle Hayne area. Based on the findings
of the January 2016 sampling event, Apex conducted three additional
quarterly sampling events in April, July, and October 2016 to obtain
sufficient data for site closure. During these quarterly sampling
events, since the January 2016 sampling results demonstrated that
hexavalent chromium was not a COC, the samples were only analyzed for
total chromium.
The monitoring data demonstrates that remedial action objectives
and cleanup levels specified in the 2007 ROD Amendment are achieved.
There are no additional monitoring or Operations and Maintenance of the
remedy required.
Five-Year Reviews
The purpose of a five-year review (FYR) is to evaluate the
implementation and performance of a remedy to determine if the remedy
is and will continue to be protective of human health and the
environment. In addition, FYR reports identify issues found during the
review, if any, and document recommendations to address them. EPA
completed two policy FYRs for the site in September 2012 and September
2017. The 2017 FYR determined that the remedy was protective of human
health and the environment, and there were no issues or
recommendations. The 2017 FYR concluded that no further FYRs are
planned for the site because all impacted media have reached Unlimited
Use/Unrestricted Exposure (UU/UE) categorization.
Community Involvement
EPA has communicated with the public through Fact Sheets, meetings,
internet postings, newspaper ads, and answering email and phone
inquiries. Current Site information can be found at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0405590.
Public participation activities have been satisfied as required in
CERCLA Section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k) and CERCLA Section 117, 42
U.S.C. 9617. Documents in the deletion docket, which the EPA relied on
for recommendation of the deletion from the NPL, are available to the
public in the information repositories identified above.
Determination That the Site Meets the Criteria for Deletion in the NCP
Region 4 has followed the procedures required by 40 CFR 300.425(e)
as mentioned above and the implemented remedy achieves the degree of
cleanup specified in the ROD for all pathways of exposure. The
information presented in the Final Close-Out Report verifies that the
site has achieved the ROD Amendment's RAOs, and that all cleanup
actions specified in the ROD Amendment were implemented. All selected
remedial action objectives and associated cleanup levels are consistent
with agency policy and guidance. This site meets all the site
completion requirements as specified in Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER) Directive 9320.22, Close-Out Procedures for
National Priorities List Sites. No further Superfund response is needed
to protect human health and the environment.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals,
Hazardous waste, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental relations,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 13626,
77 FR 56749, 3 CFR, 2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3
CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp.,
p. 193.
Dated: July 17, 2018.
Onis ``Trey'' Glenn, III,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2018-16244 Filed 7-30-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P