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National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan: National Priorities List

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 

[Federal Register: February 7, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 25)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 5844-5847]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07fe00-39]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-6532-5]


National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan:
National Priorities List

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION:  Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion of Moton Elementary
School, including Mugrauer Playground (Operable Unit 4) and Groundwater
(Operable Unit 5) of the Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund Site
from the National Priorities List and request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6
announces its intent to delete Moton Elementary School, including
Mugrauer Playground (Operable Unit 4) and Groundwater (Operable Unit 5)
of the Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund

[[Page 5845]]

Site from the National Priorities List (NPL) and requests public
comment 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, constitutes Appendix B of 40 CFR Part 300 which is
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
(NCP). The EPA, in consultation with the State of Louisiana, through
the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), has
determined that the Operable Units pose no significant threat to public
health, welfare, or the environment and, therefore, further remedial
measures pursuant to CERCLA are not appropriate.

DATES:  The EPA will accept comments concerning its proposal to delete
for thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the Federal
Register and a newspaper of general circulation.

ADDRESSES:  Comments may be mailed to: Ms. Janetta Coats, Community
Relations Coordinator, EPA (6SF-PO), 1445 Ross Ave., Dallas, Texas
75202-2733, (214)665-7308 or 1-800-533-3508 (Toll Free).
    Information Repositories: Comprehensive information on the site has
been compiled in a public docket which is available for viewing at the
Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund Site information repositories:

    EPA Region 6, 7th Floor Reception Area, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite
1000, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, (214) 665-6548, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 4
p.m.
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Inactive and Abandoned
Sites Division, 7290 Bluebonnet Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809,
(504) 765-0487, Mon.--Fri. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Agriculture Street Landfill Site, Community Outreach Office, 3221 Press
Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70126, (504) 944-6445, Mon. 12 noon to 6
p.m., Tues., Thurs., and Fri. 3 to 6 p.m., Wed. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Ms. Ursula R. Lennox, Remedial
Project Manager, EPA (6SF-LP), 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-
2733, (214) 665-6743 or 1-800-533-3508 (Toll Free).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 announces
its intent to delete Moton Elementary School, including Mugrauer
Playground (Operable Unit 4) and Groundwater (Operable Unit 5), two
portions of the Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund Site from the
National Priorities List (NPL), Appendix B of the National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), Code of Federal
Regulations, Title 40 (40 CFR), Part 300, and requests comments on the
proposed deletion. OU Nos. 1, 2, and 3 (undeveloped property,
residential area, and Shirley Jefferson Community Center) are not the
subject of this partial deletion.
    The EPA identifies sites that appear to present a significant risk
to public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as
the list of those sites. As described in Sec. 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP,
sites or portions of sites deleted from the NPL remain eligible for
remedial actions in the unlikely event that site conditions warrant
such action.
    The EPA will accept comments concerning its intent to delete OU
Nos. 4 and 5 for thirty (30) days after publication of this notice. The
EPA has also published a notice of the availability of this Notice Of
Intent for Partial Deletion (NOID) in a major newspaper of general
circulation at or near the site.
    Section II of this notice explains the criteria for deleting sites
from the NPL. Section III discusses procedures that EPA is using for
this action. Section IV discusses the Agriculture Street Landfill
Superfund site and demonstrates how Operable Units 4 and 5 meet the
deletion criteria.

II. NPL Deletion Criteria

    Section 300.425(e) of the NCP provides that releases may be deleted
from, or recategorized on the NPL where no further response is
appropriate. In making a determination to delete a release 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 parties have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
    ii. All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has 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,
taking of remedial measures is 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 unrestricted exposure, CERCLA Section 121(c), 42
U.S.C. 9621(c) requires that a subsequent review of the site be
conducted at least every five years after the initiation of the
remedial action at the site to ensure that the action remains
protective of public health and the environment. If new information
becomes available which indicates a need for further action, EPA may
initiate remedial actions. Whenever there is a significant release from
a site deleted 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 proposed deletion of the
site:
    (1) EPA Region 6 issued a Record of Decision on September 2, 1997
which documented that no further remedial action is necessary to ensure
protection of human health and the environment for Agriculture Street
Landfill's Operable Unit 4 and Operable Unit 5;
    (2) LDEQ, on behalf of the State of Louisiana, concurred by letter
dated August 28, 1997, with EPA's decision that no action was necessary
for Operable Units 4 and 5 and that deletion from the NPL was
appropriate;
    (3) 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 availability of the Notice of
Intent for Partial Deletion and the commencement of a 30-day public
comment period; and,
    (4) EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed 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. The NPL is designed
primarily for informational purposes and to assist Agency management.
As mentioned in Section II of this notice, 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.
    This Federal Register notice, and a concurrent notice in a
newspaper of record, announce the initiation of a thirty (30) day
public comment period and the availability of the Notice of Intent for
Partial Deletion. The public is asked to comment on EPA's proposal to
delete OU Nos. 4 and 5 from the NPL. All critical documents needed to

[[Page 5846]]

evaluate EPA's decision are included in the Deletion Docket and are
available for review at the information repositories.
    Upon completion of the thirty (30) day public comment period, EPA
will evaluate all comments received before issuing the final decision
on the partial deletion. The EPA will prepare a Responsiveness Summary
for comments received during the public comment period and will address
concerns presented in the comments. The Responsiveness Summary will be
made available to the public at the information repositories listed
previously, and members of the public are encouraged to review them.
If, after review of all public comments, EPA determines that the
partial deletion from the NPL is appropriate, EPA will publish a final
notice of partial deletion in the Federal Register. Deletion of OU Nos.
4 and 5 does not actually occur until the final Notice of Partial
Deletion is published in the Federal Register.

IV. Basis for Intended Partial Site Deletion

    The following information provides the Agency's rationale for the
proposal to delete OU Nos. 4 and 5 from the NPL and EPA's finding that
the criteria in 40 CFR 300.425(e) are satisfied.

A. Site Location

    The Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund Site (site) is
approximately 95 acres and is located in the eastern section of the
city of New Orleans. The site is bound on the north by Higgins
Boulevard, and on the south and west by the Southern Railroad rights-
of-way. The eastern site boundary extends from the cul-de-sac at the
southern end of Clouet Street, near the railroad tracks, to Higgins
Boulevard between Press and Montegut streets. Approximately 48 acres
are undeveloped property. The other 47 acres are developed with
multiple- and single-family residences, commercial properties, a
community center, and a school.
    To effectively investigate and develop alternatives for the
remediation of the site, EPA divided the site into five operable units
(OUs):

 OU1--The undeveloped (currently fenced-in) property;
 OU2--The residential development which consists of the Gordon
Plaza Apartments, single family dwellings in Gordon Plaza subdivision,
and the Press Park town homes;
 OU3--Shirley Jefferson Community Center (formerly known as
Press Park Community Center);
 OU4--Moton Elementary School which includes Mugrauer
Playground; and,
 OU5--Groundwater.

    Operable Unit 4 is located in the southeast corner of the site.
Coordinates for its four corners, beginning in the northwest are
29 deg.59' 18.76" north latitude, 90 deg.02' 20.26" west longitude;
29 deg.59' 17.52" north latitude, 90 deg.02' 20.52" west longitude;
29 deg.59' 11.12" north latitude, 90 deg.02' 27.67" west longitude; and
29 deg.59' 09.63" north latitude, 90 deg.02' 21.76" west longitude.
Operable Unit 5 is designated as the groundwater beneath the site,
within which no identified plume of contamination has been specified.

B. Site History

    The Agriculture Street Landfill was a municipal waste landfill
operated by the City of New Orleans. Operations at the site began in
approximately 1909 and continued until the landfill was closed in the
late 1950's. The landfill was reopened for approximately one year in
1965 for use as an open burning and disposal area for debris left in
the wake of Hurricane Betsy. Records indicate that during its operation
the landfill received municipal waste, ash from the city's incineration
of municipal waste, and debris and ash from open burning. There is no
evidence that industrial or chemical wastes were ever transported to,
or disposed of at, the site.
    From the 1970's through the late 1980's, approximately 47 acres of
the site were developed for private and public uses that included:
private single-family homes, multiple-family private and public housing
units, Shirley Jefferson Community Center, a recreation center, retail
businesses, the Moton Elementary School, and an electrical substation.
The remaining 48 acres of the former landfill are currently undeveloped
and covered with vegetation. Previous investigations on the undeveloped
property have indicated the presence of hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants at concentrations above background and/or
regulatory levels.
    In 1986, EPA Region 6 conducted a Site Inspection and prepared a
Hazard Ranking System (HRS) documentation record package utilizing the
1982 HRS model. The site score was not sufficient for the site to be
considered for proposal and inclusion on the NPL. Pursuant to the
requirements of Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act of 1986
(SARA), which amended the original Superfund legislation, EPA published
a revised HRS model on December 14, 1990. At the request of area
community leaders, EPA initiated, in September 1993, an Expanded Site
Inspection (ESI) to support the preparation of an updated HRS
documentation record package that would evaluate the site's risks using
the revised HRS model. Subsequently, on August 23, 1994, the site was
proposed for inclusion on the NPL as part of NPL update No. 17, and on
December 16, 1994, EPA placed the site on the NPL.
    Prior to 1994, access to OU1, the undeveloped portion of the former
landfill, was unrestricted, allowing unauthorized waste disposal and
exposure to contaminants of potential concern such as lead, arsenic and
carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) found in the
surface and subsurface soils. In a time-critical removal action,
initiated in March 1994, EPA installed an 8-foot-high, chain-link fence
topped with barbed wire around the entire undeveloped portion of the
former landfill.
    Concurrent with the time-critical removal action, EPA performed a
Remedial Removal Integrated Investigation (RRII) of the entire site.
RRII fieldwork was conducted from April 4 through June 20, 1994.
Samples of surface and subsurface soil, sediment, surface water,
groundwater, air, dust, tap water, garden produce, and paint chips
collected during the field investigation were submitted to specialized
laboratories for analysis. Aerial photographs, geophysical
investigations and computer modeling were used to supplement the
analytical data in defining site boundaries and evaluating migration
pathways. These data were also used to prepare the Human Health Risk
Assessment and the Ecological Risk Assessment.
    Based on information presented in the RRII report, EPA conducted a
second time-critical removal action at the site in February 1995, and
performed confirmational air and groundwater sampling. Through this
sampling event, EPA was able to obtain a second round of analyses of
the groundwater, to clarify earlier identified ambient air
contaminants, and to verify composition and magnitude of indoor air
contaminants. In 1995, EPA prepared an Engineering Evaluation and Cost
Analysis examining response action alternatives for Operable Units 1-3.
    EPA Region 6 issued a Record of Decision selecting the no action
alternative for Operable Units 4 and 5 on September 2, 1997. On the
same day, EPA signed an Action Memorandum selecting non-time-critical
removal actions for Operable Units 1, 2, and 3.

C. Characterization of Risk

    No further action will be taken by EPA on Moton School, including
the Mugrauer Playground (OU4) and

[[Page 5847]]

Groundwater (OU5). This decision is based on the risk assessment that
evaluated Moton School (OU4) and Groundwater (OU5), which concluded
that no unacceptable risk exists that is attributable to site related
contaminants.
    The baseline Human Health Risk Assessment, conducted as part of the
Remedial Removal Integrated Investigation for this site, evaluated
potential adverse health effects associated with site-related
contaminants in the absence of remedial action. As part of the baseline
Risk Assessment, an extensive evaluation of exposures to lead was
performed, using EPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK)
model. For contaminants other than lead, the likelihood of adverse
public health impacts associated with long-term exposure to site-
related contaminants was determined by (a) estimating potential excess
lifetime cancer risks for carcinogens and (b) by computing hazard
indices (HIs) for non-carcinogens. Federal laws, regulations, and
guidance define a range of acceptable cancer risks of 1  x  10-4
(one in ten thousand) to 1  x  10-6 (one in one million),
and a Hazard Index of unity (1) for non-cancer risks.
    For Moton School (OU4), the total excess lifetime cancer risk posed
to children attending the school was estimated 2  x  10-5
(or two in one hundred thousand), which is within the acceptable risk
range specified by federal law, regulations, and guidance. Most of this
estimated risk was attributable to inhalation of non-site-related
benzene and chloroform from indoor and outdoor air. In addition, none
of the HIs exceeded EPA's regulatory benchmark of unity.
    Given the findings of the Risk Assessment, no further action for
this operable unit is warranted. Deletion from the NPL should clear the
way for beneficial utilization of the property of the City of New
Orleans or the New Orleans School Board.
    For the Groundwater Operable Unit, (OU5), information supplied to
EPA by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality indicates that
the shallow aquifer beneath the site is not suitable for human
consumption, is not used for any beneficial purpose, and is not
considered a potential future source of drinking water. Residents at
the site area are connected to the municipal water supply for domestic
water requirements. There are no on-site drinking water wells. Site
groundwater presents no other exposure pathway. Therefore, no further
action for this operable unit is warranted.
    Because these no-action remedies will result in hazardous
substances remaining on-site, a review will be conducted every five
years after commencement of remedial action in accordance with CERCLA
Section 121(c), 42 U.S.C. 9621(c). Should future reviews indicate that
the site poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment,
then EPA may initiate response actions under the authority of CERCLA
and in accordance with the NCP.

D. Community Involvement

    Public participation activities have been satisfied as required in
CERCLA Section 113(k), 42 U.S.C. 9613(k), and Section 117, 42 U.S.C.
9617. Documents in the deletion docket which EPA relied on for
recommendation of the Partial deletion from the NPL are available to
the public in the information repositories.

E. Proposed Action

    The EPA, with concurrence of the State of Louisiana (LDEQ), has
determined that Operable Unit 4 (Moton Elementary School, including
Mugrauer Playground) and Operable Unit 5 (Groundwater) pose no
significant threat to public health or the environment; therefore, no
remedial measures are appropriate. In accordance with EPA policy on
partial deletion of sites listed on the National Priorities List, EPA
proposes to delete OU4 and OU5 from the NPL.

    Dated: January 26, 2000.
Jerry Clifford,
Deputy Regional Administrator, EPA  Region 6.
[FR Doc. 00-2479 Filed 2-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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