[Federal Register: April 18, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 73)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 20058-20060]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap05-9]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-7900-1]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Direct Final Deletion of the RCA Del Caribe Superfund Site from
the National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2, announces
the deletion of the RCA Del Caribe Superfund Site (Site), located in
Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, from the National Priorities List (NPL) and
requests public comment on this action. The NPL is appendix B of the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
40 CFR part 300, which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) of 1980, as amended. This Direct Final Notice of Deletion is
being published by EPA with the concurrence of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, through the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (EQB).
EPA and EQB have determined that the release poses no significant
threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, taking of
remedial measures is not appropriate.
DATES: This direct final deletion will be effective June 17, 2005,
unless EPA receives significant adverse comments by May 18, 2005. If
significant adverse comments are received, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final deletion in the Federal Register,
informing the public that the deletion will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to: Adalberto Bosque,
Remedial Project Manager, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Centro Europa Building,
Suite 417, 1492 Ponce de Leon Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907.
Information Repositories: Comprehensive information about the Site
is available for viewing and copying at the Site information
repositories located at: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region
2, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, Centro Europa Building,
Suite 417, 1492 Ponce de Leon Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00907,
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 2, Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway,
Room 1828, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4308, Hours: 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Sixto Escobar Municipal Library,
Escobar Avenue, Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, Hours: Monday through
Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., (809) 846-7056. And, Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board,
Emergency Response and Superfund Program, National Bank Plaza, 431
Ponce De Leon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico 00917, (787) 767-8181 Ext.
2230, Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday by appointment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Adalberto Bosque, Remedial Project
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Division, Caribbean
Environmental Protection Division, Centro Europa Building Suite 417,
1492 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Santurce, Puerto Rico, 00907, (787) 977-
5825; fax number (787) 289-7104; e-mail address:
bosque.adalberto@epa.gov.
[[Page 20059]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region 2 announces the deletion of the RCA del Caribe Superfund
Site (Site) from the National Priorities List (NPL). The EPA maintains
the NPL as the list of those sites that appear to present a significant
risk to public health or the environment. Sites on the NPL can have
remedial actions financed by the Hazardous Substances Response Fund. As
described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, a site deleted from the
NPL remains eligible for remedial actions if conditions at the site
warrant such action.
EPA considers this action to be noncontroversial and routine, and
therefore, EPA is taking it without prior publication of a Notice of
Intent to Delete. This action will be effective June 17, 2005, unless
EPA receives significant adverse comments by May 18, 2005, on this
action or on the parallel Notice of Intent to Delete published in the
Notice section of today's Federal Register. If significant adverse
comments are received within the 30-day public comment period of this
action or the Notice of Intent to Delete, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of this Direct Final Deletion before the effective date of
the deletion and the deletion will not take effect. EPA will, if
appropriate, prepare a response to comments and continue with the
deletion process on the basis of the Notice Intent to Delete and the
comments already received. There will be no additional opportunity to
comment.
Section II explains the criteria for deleting sites from the NPL.
Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using for this action.
Section IV discusses the RCA del Caribe Superfund Site and demonstrates
how it 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 accordance
with Sec. 300.425(e)(1), EPA shall consult with the Commonwealth to
determine 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 Fund-financed 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 poses no
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,
implementing remedial measures is not appropriate.
In addition, the Commonwealth shall concur with the deletion, as
required by Sec. 300.425(e)(2); and, the public shall be informed, as
required by Sec. 300.425(e)(4). A site which is deleted from the NPL
does remain eligible for remedial actions should future conditions
warrant such action, Sec. 300.425(e)(3).
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures apply to deletion of the Site.
(1) The Site was listed on the NPL in December 1982. Four lined
lagoons (ponds) on the Site were closed in 1985 under an approved
closure plan.
(2) On April 11, 1988, a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP)
entered into a joint CERCLA/ Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) Administrative Order on Consent with EPA. The Order designated
separate units of the Site to be covered under CERCLA and RCRA. The
closed lagoons and groundwater contamination was to be addressed by
CERCLA. Remaining sludge drying beds and sludge surface impoundments
were to be addressed by RCRA.
(3) On September 30, 1994 , EPA issued a Record of Decision which
concluded that no action was required for the CERCLA units of the Site.
(4) A Preliminary Close Out report was issued by EPA on September
5, 2000.
(5) Region 2, Emergency and Remedial Response Division (ERRD)
evaluated site risks based on soil samples taken from the North and
South Sludge Drying Beds, the Large and Small Surface Impoundment Areas
and the area around the Surface Impoundment Areas. The concentrations
were found to be within the risk range for residential use.
(6) Region 2 finds the September 30, 1994 ROD and the conclusion
reached by ERRD in (5) above indicates that the release poses no
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,
taking of remedial measures under CERCLA is not appropriate.
(7) EPA consulted with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through the
Environmental Quality Board (EQB) on the deletion of this Site from the
NPL, and EQB has concurred with the deletion.
(8) If no significant adverse comments are received related to this
Direct Final Notice of Deletion, the Site will be deleted. If
significant adverse comments are received within the 30-day public
comment period established for this Direct Final Action or the Notice
of Intent to Delete published in today's Federal Register, EPA will
publish a timely notice of withdrawal of this Direct Final Deletion
before its effective date. EPA will prepare, if appropriate, a response
to comments and continue with the deletion process on the basis of the
notice of Intent to Delete and the comments already received.
(9) EPA has placed copies of documents supporting the deletion in
the Site information repositories identified 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 the list of uncontrolled hazardous
substance releases in the United States that are priorities for long-
term remedial evaluation and response.
IV. Basis for Site Deletion
The RCA del Caribe Superfund Site is the location of a former
manufacturing facility in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. The Site is
situated on the north coast of the island, approximately 30 miles due
west of San Juan in Barrio Afuera, Municipio de Barceloneta, Puerto
Rico, 3.3 miles southwest of the center of Barceloneta. The Site is
located 400 feet south of the intersection of Highways 2 and 140 and
covers approximately 30 acres.
The Site was the location of a facility that manufactured low-
carbon steel aperture masks for color television picture tubes by
chemically etching carbon steel with a ferric chloride solution. The
facility operated for approximately 17 years until April 1987. The used
ferric chloride solution was a listed hazardous waste under RCRA. Used
solution was stored in four lined lagoons (or ponds). Used water from
the manufacturing process (process water), containing ferric chloride,
was treated on-site to remove contaminants and discharged into a
sinkhole at the Site. The treatment of process water created a sludge
that was stored on-site in drying beds and in surface impoundments.
Between 1978 and 1981, sinkholes developed on the Site causing
approximately 1.4 million gallons of the ferric chloride solution from
the lagoons to be spilled onto the ground and into the groundwater.
Shortly thereafter, EPA conducted an investigation to determine whether
the
[[Page 20060]]
Site should be placed on the NPL. It was listed in December, 1982. The
lagoons were closed in 1985 under an EPA and EQB-approved RCRA closure
plan. Under the closure plan, the lining materials and related piping
were removed and the lagoon areas were regraded with clean soil from
other areas of the Site. From 1982 until 1987, the ferric chloride
solution was stored in tanks and sold to a waste water treatment
facility. The sludge remaining in the drying beds was estimated to be
approximately 100 cubic yards, and the sludge within the two surface
impoundments was estimated to be approximately 1,000 cubic yards.
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) ceased operations at the
facility on April 4, 1987. On December 31, 1987, General Electric
Company (GE) acquired RCA and became its legal successor. On April 11,
1988, GE, as successor to RCA, entered into an Administrative Order on
Consent with EPA to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study
(RI/FS) to determine the extent and magnitude of the contamination
created by the release of ferric chloride. In addition, GE agreed to
comply with RCRA's closure requirements for the RCRA regulated units.
The RCRA portion of the Site was identified as two sludge drying beds
and two sludge surface impoundments. While the Order required RCRA
closure of these units, EPA later acknowledged that GE could petition
EPA for the delisting of these wastes under RCRA. Subsequently, GE
pursued the delisting of these wastes and on March 19, 2004, a proposed
rule to delist these wastes was published in the Federal Register
(Volume 69, Number 54).
For the CERCLA portion of the site, a remedial investigation was
conducted by GE. On September 30, 1994, EPA issued a Record of Decision
determining that the Site did not pose a significant threat to human
health or the environment and, therefore, remediation was not necessary
nor appropriate. This determination was based upon the remedial
investigation and a risk assessment performed for the Site. This
determination covered the CERCLA portion of the Site, which was defined
by the soils and sediments in the four lined lagoons and any
groundwater contamination associated with releases from those lagoons.
On September 5, 2000 EPA issued a Preliminary Close Out Report (PCOR)
finding that all remedial construction for the Site was complete.
The Municipality of Barceloneta has entered into an ``Agreement For
The Transfer of Physical Possession of Barceloneta Property'' dated
December 7, 2004. It is EPA's understanding that the Municipality
intends to reuse the Site. It is the policy of EPA to support the reuse
of Superfund sites. Deletion of a site from the NPL, when appropriate,
supports reuse by informing the public that the site no longer poses a
significant threat to public health or the environment under CERCLA.
The Site meets Commonwealth requirements that are applicable or
relevant and appropriate. The finding that remediation is not
appropriate is cost-effective and provides for a permanent solution
meeting the requirements of CERCLA. There are no site-related hazardous
substances, pollutants or contaminants which would prevent the
unlimited use of this site without restricting or controlling
exposures. No five-year reviews of site remedies are required by EPA
regulations or policies.
EPA and EQB have determined that the release poses no significant
threat to public health or the environment and, therefore, taking of
remedial measures is not appropriate. Therefore, EPA is deleting this
Site from the NPL.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals,
Hazardous waste, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental relations,
Natural resources, Oil pollution, Penalties, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water pollution control, Water
supply.
Dated: March 30, 2005.
George Pavlou,
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 2.
0
40 CFR part 300 is amended as follows:
PART 300--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as follows:
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; and E.O. 12580, 52 FR
2923, 3 CFR 1987 Comp., p. 193.
Appendix B to Part 300 [Amended]
0
2. Table 1 of Appendix B to part 300 is amended by removing the site
name ``RCA Del Caribe, Barceloneta, PR.''
[FR Doc. 05-7572 Filed 4-15-05; 8:45 am]
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