[Federal Register: August 5, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 150)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 45334-45336]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05au05-11]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-7947-9]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Nutmeg Valley Road Site from the
National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'' or the
``Agency'') New England announces its intent to delete the Nutmeg
Valley Road Site (``Site'') from the National Priorities List (``NPL'')
and requests 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
[[Page 45335]]
and Liability Act (``CERCLA'') of 1980, as amended. EPA and the
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (``CT DEP'') have
determined that no further action is necessary or appropriate for this
Site.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site from the
NPL may be submitted on or before September 6, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Karen Lumino, EPA New England, One
Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HBT), Boston, MA 02114, or e-mailed to
lumino.karen@epa.gov.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the EPA
New England public docket which is available for viewing by appointment
only by calling 617-918-1440. Requests for copies of the background
information from the Regional public docket should be directed to the
EPA New England office at the following address: Superfund Records
Center, EPA New England, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (HSC), Boston,
MA 02114.
The deletion docket is also available for viewing at the following
location: Wolcott Library, 469 Bound Line Road, Wolcott, CT 06716.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Lumino, Remedial Project
Manager, at 617-918-1348, or lumino.karen@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA New England announces its intent to delete the Nutmeg Valley
Road Site in Wolcott, New Haven County, Connecticut (EPA ID
CTD 980669261) from the NPL, which constitutes appendix B of the NCP,
40 CFR part 300, and requests comments on this deletion. EPA identifies
sites that appear to present a significant risk to public health,
welfare or the environment and maintains the NPL as a list of these
sites. As described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, sites deleted
from the NPL remain eligible for remedial actions in the unlikely event
that conditions at the site warrant such action in the future.
EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delist this Site for
thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal
Register.
Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures that EPA is using
for this action. Section IV discusses the Site and explains how the
Site meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making a
determination to delete a site from the NPL, EPA, in consultation with
the state, shall consider whether any of the following criteria have
been met:
(i) Responsible parties or other parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required; or
(ii) All appropriate responses under CERCLA have been implemented,
and no further action by responsible parties is appropriate; or
(iii) The remedial investigation has shown that the release of
hazardous substances poses no significant threat to public health or
the environment and, therefore, remedial measures are not appropriate.
Even when a site is deleted from the NPL, where hazardous
substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels
that allow for unlimited use and restricted exposure, EPA is required,
by statute or policy, to conduct a subsequent review at least every
five years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to
ensure that the site remains protective of human health and the
environment. If new information becomes available that indicates a need
for further action, EPA may initiate additional remedial actions.
Whenever there is a significant release from a deleted site from the
NPL, the site may be restored to the NPL, without application of the
Hazard Ranking System.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of
this Site: (1) EPA New England issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on
September 28, 2004, which documented the determination that no further
action was warranted at this Site; (2) all appropriate responses under
CERCLA have been implemented as documented in the Final Close-Out
Report also dated September 28, 2004; (3) the CT DEP concurred with the
proposed deletion; (4) a notice has been published in the local
newspaper and has been distributed to appropriate federal, state and
local officials and other interested parties announcing the
commencement of a 30-day public comment period on EPA's Notice of
Intent to Delete; and (5) all relevant documents have been made
available for public review in the local Site information repository.
Deletion of sites 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 Agency management of
Superfund sites. As referenced Section II of this document, Sec.
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.
For deletion of this Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and
evaluate public comments before making a final decision to delete. If
necessary, the Agency will prepare a Responsiveness Summary to address
any significant public comments received.
A deletion occurs when the Regional Administrator places a final
notice in the Federal Register. Generally, the NPL will reflect
deletions in the final update following the notice. Public notices and
copies of the Responsiveness Summary will be made available to local
residents by the Regional Office.
IV. Basis for Intended Site Deletion
The following summary provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.
Site Background and History
The Site is located in west-central Connecticut near the Wolcott/
Waterbury town line, in New Haven County, Connecticut. It consists of a
dozen small manufacturing facilities, light industrial facilities and
repair shops over a 28-acre area. Past and present human activities
have altered the area, offering minimal wildlife habitat. Private wells
contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were first
discovered by state and local health officials in 1979. In 1986, the
Town of Wolcott extended a public water supply line into the area. The
Site was placed on the NPL in March 1989. Two metal-working and machine
shops on Nutmeg Valley Road with a known history of dumping waste oil
and solvents onto the ground were the focus of early remedial
investigations; however the study area was expanded to 155 acres to
include similar companies on Swiss Lane, Tosun Road, Wolcott Road and
Town Line Road which were also seen as potential sources of groundwater
contamination.
In 1995 and 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey (``USGS'') performed
regional groundwater studies concluding that: (a) although VOCs, metals
and cyanide were found in the groundwater, the distribution was
scattered and there was no evidence of a wide-spread plume of
contamination; and (b) the levels of contaminants in much of the study
area
[[Page 45336]]
were decreasing over time through natural degradation processes.
In 1999, using data collected by the USGS, EPA screened the area
for human-health and ecological risk. Based on the findings of the USGS
studies and EPA sampling, the study area was reduced to its current 28-
acre configuration.
From 2000 to 2002, EPA conducted a more focused study of the
groundwater, as well as surface water, soil and sediment. Based on the
sampling results in this study, the levels of organic compounds and
metals detected in soil, sediment and surface water do not appear to
pose an unacceptable risk to human health. EPA did identify a potential
non-carcinogenic health hazard from the future use of groundwater if
used as a drinking water supply, with the primary risk driver being
manganese. The ecological risk assessment did not identify risks to
wildlife or its habitat attributable to activities at the Site.
Response Actions
In 1992, EPA conducted an emergency removal of 1,150 tons of sludge
waste and contaminated soil from two unlined lagoons. This action
addressed the threats posed by the electroplating wastes in surface
soils, and removed a potential source of groundwater contamination.
In April 2004, the Town of Wolcott adopted the Wolcott Groundwater
Ordinance 87 (``Groundwater Ordinance'') prohibiting all uses
of groundwater within a 25-acre area that overlaps with those portions
of the Site where groundwater presents a potential non-carcinogenic
health hazard.
In September 2004, the Town of Wolcott issued a ``No Further
Action'' ROD for this Site. The basis for this decision was the
combination of the Town's Groundwater Ordinance, and, a requirement in
the Connecticut Public Health Code (section 19-12-B51m) that prohibits
the future installation of private wells on parcels that are within 200
feet of a public water supply, a condition that applies to all parcels
in the Site. EPA made the determination that conditions at the Site are
protective of human health and the environment now and in the future,
and that no further remedial action under CERCLA is necessary for this
Site.
Five-Year Review
Because EPA's determination of no further action relies in part
upon existing laws already in place, EPA will review the protectiveness
of this determination every five years pursuant to 40 U.S.C. 9621(c) of
CERCLA. This review will be limited in scope to evaluating whether or
not these legal mechanisms (or similar requirements) currently in place
remain in place, and whether or not these mechanisms function
sufficiently to prevent human exposure to contaminated groundwater.
Should this review indicate that exposure is occurring, then EPA may
take additional action to determine if such exposure presents an
unacceptable risk.
Community Involvement
Throughout the Site's history, community concern has been high. EPA
has kept the community and other interested parties apprised of Site
activities through a series of public meetings, fact sheets, and press
releases. An information repository was established at the Wolcott
Library.
The Proposed Plan with EPA's preferred alternative was distributed
to the 200 people on the Site's mailing list. A public comment period
on the Proposed Plan was held from July 9 to August 9, 2004. Of the
seven sets of comments received during the comment period, five
supported the no further action remedy. None stated an opposition to
the proposed remedy.
Redevelopment Potential
The current land use of the Site is industrial with some
residential use along the northwestern boundary (Wolcott Road). Land
use in adjacent and surrounding areas in close proximity to the Site is
currently commercial, industrial and residential. The reasonably
anticipated future use of the Site will continue to be industrial with
limited residential. EPA's determination that no further action is
required at the Nutmeg Valley Road Site has no bearing on Connecticut's
Property Transfer Law, and remediation may be necessary to meet state
requirements (see http://www.dep.state.ct.us/pao/perdfact/proptran.htm
).
Applicable Deletion Criteria
In a letter dated July 12, 2005, Mayor Thomas Dunn of Wolcott
certified full compliance with the Town's Groundwater Ordinance that
required all affected properties to abandon all existing groundwater
wells, and connect to the existing public water supply system. With
this certification, EPA believes that the following criterion for the
deletion of a site from the NPL has been met: all appropriate responses
under CERCLA have been implemented, and no further action by
responsible parties is appropriate. Consequently, EPA is proposing
deletion of the Nutmeg Valley Road Superfund Site from the NPL.
Documents supporting this action are available in the docket.
State Concurrence
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, in a letter
from Gina McCarthy, Commissioner, dated July 5, 2005, concurs with the
proposed deletion of the Nutmeg Valley Road Superfund Site from the
NPL.
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(c)(2); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 12777,
56 FR 54757, 3CFR, 1991 Comp., p.351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR 2923; 3 CFR,
1987 Comp., p. 193.
Dated: July 25, 2005.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
[FR Doc. 05-15435 Filed 8-4-05; 8:45 am]
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