[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39326-39328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14209]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[FRL-7225-3]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of intent to delete Tulalip Landfill NPL Site from the
National Priorities List.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10,
announces its intent to delete the Tulalip NPL Site (Site), which is
located in Snohomish County, Washington, 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 Tulalip Tribes 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 July 8, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Beverly Gaines, EPA Point of
Contact, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth
Avenue, Mail Stop, ECL-110, Seattle, Washington 98101.
Comprehensive information on this Site is available through the
Region 10 public docket which is available for reviewing at: U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Superfund Records Center, Seattle, Washington 98101.
Information on the site and a copy of the docket are available for
viewing at the Information Repository which is located at: Marysville
Public Library, 6120 Grove, Marysville, Washington.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Gaines, EPA Point of Contact,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Mail Stop, ECL-110, Seattle, Washington 98101; phone: (206) 553-1066,
fax: (206) 553-0124; e-mail: [email protected].
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 10 announces
its intent to delete the Tulalip Landfill Site, which is located in
Snohomish County, Washington, 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 that appear to present a significant risk to
public health, welfare, or the environment and maintains the NPL as the
list of these sites. EPA and the Tulalip Tribes 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 document in the Federal
Register.
Section II of this document explains the criteria for deleting
sites from the NPL. Section III discusses the procedures EPA is using
for this action. Section IV discusses the Tulalip Landfill 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, 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 Tulalip Tribes, 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 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 unrestricted 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
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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.
In the case of this site, the selected remedy is protective of
human health and the environment and complies with Federal, State, and
Tribal requirements that are legally applicable or relevant and
appropriate to the remedial action.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures were used for the intended deletion of
this site: (1) All appropriate response under CERCLA has been
implemented and no further action by EPA is appropriate; (2) the
Tulalip Tribes have concurred with the proposed deletion decision; (3)
a notice has been published in the local newspapers and has been
distributed to appropriate federal, state, tribal, 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 in 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, 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 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 for 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 Site is located within the Tulalip Indian Reservation on
approximately 147 acres of North Ebey Island in the Snohomish River
delta, between Marysville and Everett, Washington. North Ebey Island is
bordered by Ebey Slough to the north and Steamboat Slough to the south.
The Seattle Disposal Company operated the landfill from 1964 until
1979, under a lease from the Tulalip Tribes. The landfill received
primarily commercial and construction waste. Three to four million tons
of waste is currently contained within the landfill which is also
considered the source area. The landfill was subsequently closed and a
perimeter berm was constructed. The surface of the landfill was graded
and cover soils were placed at thickness ranging from 1 to 12 feet.
However, insufficient grading of this cover material resulted in poor
drainage and allowed precipitation to collect and eventually infiltrate
the landfill surface. As a result, a pool of contaminated groundwater
(leachate) formed within the landfill.
EPA performed a background exceedance evaluation to compare
concentrations of soil and sediment contamination in the off-source
area with regional soil and sediment background concentrations.
Contaminants in the off-source area found to exceed background
concentrations include aluminum, arsenic, chromium, and manganese.
Concentrations of metals in wetland soil were highest in the areas
surrounding most of the leachate seeps adjacent to the landfill berm.
Due to the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site,
the Tulalip Landfill was listed on the NPL on April 25, 1995.
Selected Remedy
In 1996 EPA signed the interim Record of Decision (ROD) for the
Tulalip Landfill Source-area (the landfill). A presumptive remedy
(landfill cover system) was selected which expedited the design and
construction of the on-source remedy. In September 1998 EPA signed the
Final Record of Decision for the Tulalip Landfill Superfund Site On-
Source and Off-Source Remedial Action. This Record of Decision
documented the selection of the final remedy for both the on-source and
off-source areas of the site as described below:
On-Source Remedy
The interim on-source remedy presented in the March 1, 1996, Record
of Decision was adopted as the final remedy for the on-source area.
Major elements of the remedy included:
--Capping the landfill in accordance with the Washington State Minimum
Functional Standards for landfill source,
--Installing a landfill gas collection system,
--Monitoring the leachate mound within the landfill, the perimeter
leachate seeps, and landfill gas to ensure the selected remedy is
adequately containing the landfill wastes,
--Initiating restrictions to protect the landfill cap, and
--Providing for operation and maintenance (O&M) to ensure the integrity
of the cap system.
Off-source Remedy
The remedy of the off-source area (wetlands) selected in the final
ROD was designed to protect human health and the environment through
the continued implementation of placing signs and institutional
controls. The major element of the off-source remedy selected in this
ROD was to place and maintain an adequate number of signs to prohibit
access to contaminated wetland areas and the consumption of fish and
shellfish from those areas.
Response Actions
On May 6, 1998, the remedial design for the on-source cover system
was approved by EPA in consultation with the Tulalip Tribes.
Construction of the cover system began on June 18, 1998, and took
slightly more than two years to complete. EPA then conducted a pre-
final inspection on September 26, 2000, in conjunction with the Tribes,
and developed a punch list of outstanding items. Those items were
addressed in early October 2000, and the final walk-through was
conducted on October 17, 2000. At the time, EPA in consultation with
the Tribes, determined that the constructed remedy was operational and
functional.
The following remedial activities were performed by Washington
Waste Hauling & Recycling, according to design specifications set forth
in the 1998 Remedial Design package.
--Regrading and preparing a crowned shaped sub-base over the entire
site by excavating and relocating waste (approximately 440,000 cy) and
importing a significant amount of clean fill (approximately 410,000
cy).
--Constructing a passive gas collection system in the waste so that a
gas treatment system could easily be added later if necessary.
--Placing and compacting a 12'' foundation layer (sand) over the sub-
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base and gas collection system (approximately 320,000 cy).
--Constructing a liner system (approximately 150 acres) over the
foundation layer. The liner system includes a flexible membrane liner
to minimize infiltration of water into the landfill, a geonet for
drainage, and geotextile protective liner.
--Placing a 12'' layer of topsoil (280,000 cy) over the liner system,
construction of a surface water drainage system, and revegetating the
landfill.
--Constructing a locked gate entrance to restrict the access of
unauthorized persons and equipment, and posting appropriate warning
signs.
The Tribes have adopted an enforceable tribal ordinance and have
placed signs prohibiting access to and the consumption of shellfish in
the nearby wetlands. The Tribe has also adopted deed restrictions and
signed a consent decree which prevents activities that may disturb the
integrity of the cap.
Operation and Maintenance
Monitoring has been and will continue to be conducted quarterly for
landfill gas and leachate seeps, and monthly for leachate levels. The
Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Plan was approved on June 6, 2001. O&M
activities to be performed include monthly site inspections for the
first year and then quarterly inspections thereafter. Items to be
inspected include landfill grades (surveys), surface water control
systems, erosion, vegetation, infiltration collection system, gas
collection system, roads, piezometers, site security and signs.
The certificate of completion was issued on February 20, 2001. O&M
will be conducted for a minimum of 30 years from that date, the first
four years by Washington Waste Hauling and Recycling and the next 26
years by the Tulalip Tribes. Currently, the Tribes do not have plans
for any specific future use of the site.
Five-Year Review
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) requires a five-year review of all
sites with hazardous substances remaining above the health-based levels
for unrestricted use of the site. Since the cleanup of the Tulalip
Landfill has hazardous substances remaining at the site above levels
that allow unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, a five-year review
will be completed prior to June 18, 2003 (five years after RA on-site
mobilization).
Community Involvement
Generally, the construction of the on-site landfill cover system
was not of great interest to the public. Most of the public interest
was focused on the truck hauling routes to and from the site and
keeping road surfaces clean. EPA's Regional community relations staff
conducted an active campaign to ensure that the residents were well
informed about the activities at the site through routine publication
of progress fact sheets. In response to citizen concerns, some of the
truck traffic was rerouted away from certain areas.
Applicable Deletion Criteria
EPA may delete a site from the NPL if ``all appropriate Fund-
financed response under CERCLA has been implemented, and no further
response action by responsible parties is appropriate.'' 40 CFR
300.425(e)(1)(ii). EPA, with the concurrence of the Tulalip Tribes,
believe that this criterion for deletion has been met. Subsequently,
EPA is proposing deletion of this site from the NPL. Documents
supporting this action are available from the docket.
Tribal Concurrence
In a letter dated March 20, 2002, Tulalip Tribes, concur with the
proposed deletion of the Tulalip Landfill Superfund site from the NPL.
Dated: May 24, 2002.
L. John Iani,
Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 02-14209 Filed 6-6-02; 8:45 am]
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