[Federal Register: February 14, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 29)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7455-7458]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14fe05-27]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-7869-3]
National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete the Firestone Tire and Rubber
Company Superfund site from the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IX announces
the intent to delete the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Superfund
Site (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 and the State of
California, through the California Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC), have determined that the remedial action for the Site
has been successfully executed.
DATES: Comments concerning the proposed deletion of this Site from the
NPL may be submitted on or before March 16, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Vicki Rosen, Community
Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA Region IX (SFD-3), 75 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, (415) 972-3244 or 1-800-231-3075.
Information Repositories: Repositories have been established to
provide detailed information concerning this decision at the following
address: U.S. EPA Region IX Superfund Records Center, 95 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, (415) 536-2000, Monday through
Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; John Steinbeck Library, 350 Lincoln Avenue,
Salinas, CA 93901, (831) 758-7311.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Bowlin, Remedial Project
Manager, U.S. EPA Region IX (SFD-7-
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3), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, (415) 972-3177
or 1-800-231-3075.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis of Intended Site Deletion
I. Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IX announces
its intent to delete the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Superfund
Site (Site) in Salinas, Monterey County, California 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 identifies sites which present a significant risk
to public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as
the list of these sites. EPA and the State of California, through the
California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), have
determined that the remedial action for the Site has been successfully
executed.
EPA will accept comments on the proposal to delete this Site for
thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in Federal Register.
Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures EPA is using for
this action. Section IV discusses the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Superfund site and explains how the Site meets the deletion criteria.
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
Section 300.425(e)(1) of the NCP provides that sites may be deleted
from, or recategorized on, the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a site from the NPL,
EPA shall 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; or
(ii) All appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is
appropriate; or
(iii) The Remedial Investigation has shown that the site poses no
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,
remedial measures are not appropriate.
Even if 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's policy is that a
subsequent review of the site will be conducted at least every five
years after the initiation of the remedial action at the site to ensure
that the site remains protective of public health and the environment.
If new information becomes available which 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) All appropriate responses under CERCLA have been
implemented and no further actions by EPA or the responsible party are
appropriate; (2) the State of California has concurred with the
proposed deletion decision; (3) a notice has been published in the
local newspapers 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 (4) all relevant documents have been made
available in the local site information repositories.
Deletion of the Site from the NPL does not itself create, alter, or
revoke any individual's rights or obligations. The NPL is designed
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency 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.
For deletion of this Site, EPA's Regional Office will accept and
evaluate public comments on EPA's Notice of Intent to Delete 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 of Intended Site Deletion
The following site summary provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposal to delete this Site from the NPL.
Site Background and History
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, now Bridgestone/Firestone,
Inc., owned and operated a tire manufacturing facility at 340 El Camino
Real South between 1963 and 1980. The Site is surrounded by
agricultural lands and is approximately six miles southeast of downtown
Salinas, California. During the facility's operation, Firestone
released chlorinated solvents and other chemicals, particularly
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to the soil and groundwater at the
Site.
In March 1983, Firestone began investigations at the facility to
comply with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) closure
requirements. Based on these investigations, the California Department
of Health Services (DHS) required Firestone to conduct extensive soil
and groundwater characterizations and subsequent interim remedial
measures to address soil and groundwater contamination. Firestone
removed approximately 65,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and 9,000
gallons of hazardous liquids for off-site disposal in a Class I
landfill. In October 1985, DHS issued a Remedial Action Order (RAO) to
Firestone to address the groundwater contamination.
The groundwater aquifer system in the area is comprised of three
interconnected aquifers that are designated shallow, intermediate, and
deep aquifers. Directly downgradient of the Site, groundwater in the
intermediate and deep aquifers is used primarily for agricultural
supply along with potential private domestic supply. Further
downgradient, the City of Salinas relies on groundwater in the deep
aquifer for municipal water supply.
Pursuant to the RAO, Firestone constructed a groundwater extraction
and treatment system to control migration of the groundwater
contamination from the Site. The system included 15 onsite shallow
aquifer extraction wells and an air stripper/carbon adsorption
treatment plant. The system was expanded in 1987 by installing five
offsite shallow aquifer extraction wells and modifying the treatment
plant to accommodate the additional flow.
Response Actions
EPA listed the Site on the NPL on July 22, 1987. DHS (now DTSC)
served as
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lead agency and provided oversight of Superfund activities at the Site.
The final Remedial Investigation (RI), completed in December 1988,
consisted of a comprehensive study of residual groundwater
contamination in aquifers beneath and adjacent to the Site and a
groundwater risk assessment. The RI found that the shallow aquifer
groundwater extraction and treatment system was successfully removing
the contamination in the shallow aquifer; however, the RI also found
that some contamination, exceeding health-based levels, had migrated to
the intermediate aquifer and to a small area of the deeper aquifer.
Firestone completed the final Feasibility Study/Remedial Action
Plan (FS/RAP) in August 1989. On September 6, 1989, DHS approved the
RAP selecting the final Site remedy. On September 13, 1989, EPA issued
a Record of Decision (ROD) Declaration that formally concurred with the
remedy selected by DHS. The final remedy provided for remediation of
groundwater onsite and offsite extending to a distance of over two
miles from the Site and included the following major components:
Continued pumping of groundwater from the shallow aquifer;
Installing five new wells and pumping groundwater from the
intermediate aquifer;
Treatment of extracted groundwater by air stripping and
carbon adsorption;
Discharge of treated water to the Salinas River;
Regular groundwater monitoring to ensure that the size of
the contaminant plume is declining and to allow for adjustments to the
extraction and treatment system;
Crop testing to ensure no uptake of contaminants by
plants; and
A monitoring and contingency plan for currently
uncontaminated water in the deep aquifer which could become
contaminated.
In October 1989, Firestone installed the five intermediate aquifer
extraction wells and connected the new wells to the existing
groundwater treatment plant. After DHS provided EPA with final
certification of the implementation of the remedy, EPA issued the
Interim Closeout Report in December 1991.
After achieving cleanup levels in all extraction wells, Firestone
stopped pumping and conducted an aquifer stability test in November
1992. Based on the results of the aquifer stability test, DTSC allowed
the groundwater extraction and treatment system to remain shut down
with continued groundwater monitoring until July 1995. Post-remediation
monitoring of deep and intermediate aquifer wells showed no exceedances
of the groundwater cleanup levels; however, monitoring of the shallow
aquifer wells showed increases in contaminant concentrations to above
cleanup levels in two wells located near the former Firestone facility.
The two shallow aquifer wells were screened in the upper zone of the
shallow aquifer. The upper zone of the shallow aquifer is unsaturated
for extended periods of time because it is above the normal groundwater
table.
Since the residual contamination above the normal groundwater table
was mainly a water quality issue, DTSC deferred the decision of case
closure to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).
In 1998, Firestone conducted confirmation sampling that indicated that
the residual contamination in the upper zone of the shallow aquifer had
not impacted the intermediate and deep aquifers and that the
contaminant concentrations in the two monitoring wells were decreasing.
Based on these sampling results, RWQCB concluded that the residual
contamination in the upper zone of the shallow aquifer would attenuate
to below cleanup levels and would not impact the downgradient
groundwater and deeper aquifers. With RWQCB's approval, Firestone
dismantled the groundwater extraction and treatment system and properly
abandoned all monitoring and extraction wells. On July 26, 2000, RWQCB
closed the case and recommended that DTSC implement final case closure.
The groundwater cleanup levels in the RAP/ROD were set at Maximum
Contaminant Levels (MCLs) based on the designated beneficial use of the
aquifers in the area for drinking water. In June 2002, Firestone
submitted a hydrogeologic evaluation of the upper zone of the shallow
aquifer where the two monitoring wells were screened. The evaluation
concluded that the upper zone of the shallow aquifer is not suitable as
a potential drinking water source because the zone is suspended over a
silty clay aquitard and is often unsaturated for extended periods. In a
March 5, 2003, letter, RWQCB concurred with Firestone's evaluation and
concluded that the upper zone of the shallow aquifer appears to have no
beneficial use based on the lack of groundwater. Therefore, MCLs do not
apply to the upper zone of the shallow aquifer since this zone is not
suitable as a drinking water source. Based on RWQCB's determination and
the achievement of the cleanup levels in all other areas and zones, EPA
concluded and DTSC concurred that the Site can be deleted from the NPL
list.
Cleanup Standards
The cleanup of the Site complies with the ``clean closure''
requirements, consistent with the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act of 1976, as amended, 40 CFR section 264.111. All contaminated soils
were removed to unrestricted land use standards in 1983. The
groundwater extraction and treatment system was operated from 1986
until 1992 when monitoring results indicated that the cleanup levels
were achieved. Post-remediation monitoring confirms that there are no
hazardous substances remaining at the Site above health-based levels.
Five-Year Review
EPA has conducted two five-year reviews for the Site as a matter of
policy. EPA completed the first five-year review for the Site on
November 16, 1994. EPA completed the second five-year review for the
Site on September 28, 2001. In the second five-year review, EPA
concluded that the residual contamination in the upper zone of the
shallow aquifer did not constitute a significant risk to human health
or the environment but that the Site had not met the cleanup standards
of the RAP/ROD because the RWQCB considered the shallow groundwater as
an unlikely but potential drinking water source. Later the RWQCB
determined that the upper zone of the shallow aquifer was not a
potential drinking water source. Based on the RWQCB's determination
that the affected shallow zone has no beneficial use and the
achievement of the cleanup levels in all other areas and zones, further
five-year reviews are no longer required for the Site.
Community Involvement
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. The deletion docket contains the documents on which EPA
relied for the NPL deletion recommendation and is available to the
public in the information repositories.
Applicable Deletion Criteria/State Concurrence
EPA has determined that all appropriate responses under CERCLA have
been completed and that no further response actions under CERCLA are
necessary. In a letter dated July 3, 2003, the State of California
through DTSC concurred with EPA that all appropriate responses under
CERCLA have been completed. Therefore, EPA is proposing deletion of
this Site from the NPL.
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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, 3 CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; E.O. 12580, 52 FR
2923; 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 193.
Dated: January 26, 2005.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 05-2179 Filed 2-11-05; 8:45 am]
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