83 FR 40286 - Proposed CERCLA Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement; Absorbent Technologies Site, Albany, Oregon

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 157 (August 14, 2018)

In accordance with section 122(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) notice is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement for recovery of response costs incurred for the Absorbent Technologies Site located in Albany, Oregon. The settling parties are River City Environmental, Inc. (River City), David L. Ellis, Pamela L. Ellis, and Farouk Al-Hadi. The proposed settlement requires the settling parties to pay a total of $187,500 to the Environmental Protection Agency Hazardous Substance Superfund. Of that amount, River City will pay $75,000, and Mr. Ellis, Ms. Ellis, and Mr. Al-Hadi will jointly pay $112,500. Upon payment of those sums, the settling parties will be released from their obligations for payments to EPA for costs EPA incurred at the Site prior to the effective date of the proposed settlement.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40286-40287]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17425]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R10-CERCLA-10-2017-0170; FRL-9980-22--Region 10]


Proposed CERCLA Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement; 
Absorbent Technologies Site, Albany, Oregon

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 122(i) of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) notice 
is hereby given of a proposed administrative settlement for recovery of 
response costs incurred for the Absorbent Technologies Site located in 
Albany, Oregon. The settling parties are River City Environmental, Inc. 
(River City), David L. Ellis, Pamela L. Ellis, and Farouk Al-Hadi. The 
proposed settlement requires the settling parties to pay a total of 
$187,500 to the Environmental Protection Agency Hazardous Substance 
Superfund. Of that amount, River City will pay $75,000, and Mr. Ellis, 
Ms. Ellis, and Mr. Al-Hadi will jointly pay $112,500. Upon payment of 
those sums, the settling parties will be released from their 
obligations for payments to EPA for costs EPA incurred at the Site 
prior to the effective date of the proposed settlement.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 13, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R10-
CERCLA-10-2017-0170, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA 
may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the 
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish 
to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents 
located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or 
other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full 
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The proposed settlement is available 
for public inspection at the U.S. EPA Region 10 office located at 805 
SW Broadway, Suite 500, in Portland, Oregon. Contact Tom Townsend, EPA 
Management Analyst, at (503) 326-2763 or [email protected] to 
arrange a viewing of the proposed settlement. A copy of the proposed 
settlement may also be obtained by contacting Richard Mednick, EPA 
Associate Regional Counsel, at (206) 553-1797 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 40287]]

General Information

    The Absorbent Technologies Site is comprised of two properties 
where a company manufactured a soil additive which allowed farmers to 
use less water. This manufacturing process involved the use of 
chemicals, including acrylonitrile, hydrogen cyanide, potassium 
hydroxide, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, methanol and toxic metals. 
The properties which comprise the Site are located at 2830 Ferry Street 
SW, and 140 SW Queen Avenue in Albany, Oregon. When the manufacturing 
operations ceased in October 2013, a substantial amount of chemicals 
were discarded on-site. Following a notice from the Albany Fire 
Department, EPA required and performed cleanup activities at the Site 
through April 2014. In a 2014 settlement, EPA received a payment of 
$250,000 from owners and operators of the Site. That settlement 
resolved a cost claim of approximately $500,000. The proposed 
administrative settlement agreement which is currently subject to 
public comment will require River City Environmental, Inc., David L. 
Ellis, Pamela L. Ellis, and Farouk Al-Hadi, four owners of personal or 
real property at the Queen Avenue portion of the Site, to pay EPA a 
total of $187,500. These parties also funded or performed some of the 
cleanup work required by EPA at the Site. Subsequent to the 2014 
settlement, EPA incurred approximately $364,786 in additional response 
costs for the Queen Avenue portion of the Site. Pursuant to the terms 
of the proposed CERCLA section 122(h)(1) Settlement Agreement for 
Recovery of Response Costs, the settling parties will pay EPA a total 
of $187,500. Of that amount, River City will pay $75,000, and Mr. 
Ellis, Ms. Ellis, and Mr. Al-Hadi will jointly pay $112,500. In return 
for those payments, EPA covenants not to sue the settling parties for 
past response costs--response costs incurred by EPA prior to the 
effective date of the proposed Settlement Agreement--at the Site. For 
30 days following the date of publication of this document, EPA will 
receive written comments relating to the proposed settlement. EPA will 
consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent 
to the settlement if comments received disclose facts or considerations 
which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or 
inadequate. EPA's response to any comments received will be available 
for public inspection at the U.S. EPA Region 10 offices located at 1200 
Sixth Avenue in Seattle, Washington, and 805 SW Broadway, Suite 500, in 
Portland, Oregon.

    Dated: August 8, 2018.
Calvin Terada,
Emergency Management Program Manager, Region 10 Office of Environmental 
Cleanup.
[FR Doc. 2018-17425 Filed 8-13-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P