83 FR 47842 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Deletion of the Union Chemical Co., Inc. Superfund Site

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 184 (September 21, 2018)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 announces the deletion of the Union Chemical Co., Inc. Superfund Site (Site) located in South Hope, Maine, from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of Maine, through the Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP), have determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other than operation and maintenance, monitoring, and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 184 (Friday, September 21, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47842-47843]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20532]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 300

[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0011; FRL-9983-87--Region 1]


National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; 
National Priorities List: Deletion of the Union Chemical Co., Inc. 
Superfund Site

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 announces 
the deletion of the Union Chemical Co., Inc. Superfund Site (Site) 
located in South Hope, Maine, from the National Priorities List (NPL). 
The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 
1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and Hazardous 
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the State of 
Maine, through the Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP), have 
determined that all appropriate response actions under CERCLA, other 
than operation and maintenance, monitoring, and five-year reviews, have 
been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future actions 
under Superfund.

DATES: This action is effective September 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Docket: EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket Identification No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0011. All documents in the 
docket are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov website. Although 
listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the internet and will be

[[Page 47843]]

publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the site information repository. 
Location, contacts, phone numbers and viewing hours for the site 
information repository are:
    U.S. EPA Region 1, Superfund Records Center, 5 Post Office Square, 
Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109; Phone: (617) 918-1440; Monday-Friday: 9:00 
a.m.-5:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday: Closed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terrence Connelly, Remedial Project 
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, Mailcode 
OSRR07-1, 5 Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109; (617) 918-1373; 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: 
Union Chemical Co., Inc. Superfund Site, South Hope, Maine. A Notice of 
Intent to Delete for this Site was published in the Federal Register 
(83 FR 34508) on July 20, 2018.
    The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was 
August 20, 2018. Two public comments were received. One commenter 
argued against deletion because they believe that groundwater 
contamination is being left behind inappropriately under EPA's 2013 
technical impracticability determination and proposed Site deletion, 
and that the implementation of the Declaration of Environmental 
Covenant (deed restriction) on the Site properties was done without 
public oversight. The second commenter voiced the belief that the 
deletion was a political decision ultimately directed from the White 
House.
    In response, EPA notes that the chain of events leading to the 
proposed deletion began several years ago, when after multiple remedial 
attempts from 1996 to 2005, EPA determined in 2013 that it was 
technically impracticable to restore groundwater at the Site to 
drinking water quality. In a 2013 Record of Decision Amendment (ROD 
Amendment), EPA waived the requirement to meet groundwater cleanup 
standards due to technical impracticability because (1) the original 
groundwater pump-and-treat remedy had reached the limits of its 
effectiveness, (2) three additional innovative in situ technologies had 
proven unsuccessful in attaining the groundwater cleanup standards, and 
(3) a technical evaluation of cleanup alternatives indicated that no 
technology was available for achieving groundwater cleanup standards in 
a reasonable timeframe (in this case, under 300 years) due to Site-
specific hydrogeological and contaminant conditions. The 2013 ROD 
Amendment also adjusted the institutional control requirements of the 
remedy selected in the 1990 Record of Decision (ROD) with more 
specifics on the land use controls to be included in the deed 
restriction for the Site properties. Before the ROD Amendment was 
finalized, EPA presented about the revised site remedy in several 
meetings to the Town of Hope community. EPA received concurrence from 
the State and only positive comments from the public on the ROD 
Amendment. Consistent with the requirements of the ROD and ROD 
Amendment, MEDEP, working with the Maine Attorney General's Office and 
EPA, drafted and recorded the Declaration of Environmental Covenants. 
Upon the recording of the deed restriction, the Site became eligible 
for deletion, leading EPA to issue the Notice of Intent to Delete the 
Site.
    A responsiveness summary was prepared and placed in the docket, 
EPA-HQ-SFUND-1989-0011, on www.regulations.gov, and in the Superfund 
Records Center listed above.
    EPA maintains the NPL as the list of sites that appear to present a 
significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment. 
Deletion from the NPL does not preclude further remedial action. 
Whenever there is a significant release from a site deleted from the 
NPL, the deleted site may be restored to the NPL without application of 
the hazard ranking system. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not 
affect responsible party liability in the unlikely event that future 
conditions warrant further actions.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, 
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water 
pollution control, Water supply.

     Dated: September 6, 2018.
Alexandra Dunn,
Regional Administrator, Region 1.

    For reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 300 is amended as 
follows:

PART 300--NATIONAL OIL AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES POLLUTION 
CONTINGENCY PLAN

0
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(d); 42 U.S.C. 9601-9657; E.O. 13626, 
77 FR 56749, 3 CFR, 2013 Comp., p. 306; E.O. 12777, 56 FR 54757, 3 
CFR, 1991 Comp., p. 351; 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 listing 
under Maine for ``Union Chemical Co., Inc''.

[FR Doc. 2018-20532 Filed 9-20-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P