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Offttuf OF HEAL1H RECEIVED

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O<fla 01' IKIOilu COUlll&

April 30, 1985

The Honorable Carol Micka State House Boaton, Ma.

Dear R.epreaentative AIDicka:

0

Thanlt you a9ain for aupportinq our afforta to effect a

Superfund financed clun-up of the llyanza ch~cal vaate duap

and it1 environa. The public h..lth rillka and envir<m~MDU.l

containation cauaed by the Myan&a dte have lont been

reccMJiliaed and are well docu.ented t what r_.ina ia action,

n-ly the aelection and execution of a peraanent r~y. It

ia tOllfard thh end that we requeat your aaaiatance.

The aubatanca of and achedule for Nyanaa' a clean-up will be

4etaraine4 in -jor part by dechiona aade and actiona taken

over the next aix 110ntha by officials of the u . s. Bnviro,..ental

Protection Ac)'ency (EPA) and the Maaaachuaetta Deparblent of

KnviroNMntal Quality Enqineerinq (DEQE) . Under a recent EPA

deciaion, the Nyanza project va• divided into two phaaear

Ph••• I i• to focua on the •ourca of contaaination including

varioua depoait• of ch•ical aludgea and contaainated

aedillentar Phase II h to focua on groundwater contaaination .

'!'he aubject of thia letter i• lt.ited to Phase I, it bein9 the

u..diate taak.

Cont••••

April 30, 1915 Page 2

IPA • 1 budget for Superfund financed remedial action

prov14ea $7,000,000 for the clean-up of the Nyanza lite during

fiacal year ltl5, endinq Septe.ber 30 , 1985 . Due to

unexplained delaya in the completion of requisite atudlea.

actual clean-up of the N'yanza aite vill not ca.Dence •• planned

in the •~r of 1915, but will be delayed until the e..-.r of

ltl, . The coa.tlnued threat to public health and envlro..ental

quality cauoed by tba delay in llyann • o clean-up -t DOt be

OCIIIpaimded by the loll of funda preaently ear..rked. for thh

pur-.

J To ••ur• that fUDda currently available for vork at the

.,aua alte are c~itted to ita clean-up , aeveral atepa .uat

be t- - all by lapt-r 30, 1915 : (1) a final r-ial

actiOD alternative .uat be aelected and approved; (2) the

diHlp of tbe aelected r~ial action alternative Maat be

aubatantially c.-plated; and (3) a Federal-State Superfund

ooatract ••t be executed . Ti•ly ca.pletlon of this chain of

eveta vill require that EPA and DBQB place the Myanza project

oa a fait track. a1 outlined below .

~: The varioue optionl for clean-up at aryanaa are

eet forth in a recently releaeed report entitled "Draft

-ial Invaotlgation and Fauibility Study - Phaoa I ". Thh

otudy vao tbe aubjact of a public bearing on J.pril 11 at which

it VII UUlOUDced that a euppl..ntal report containinq new

) lafor.atioa wulcl be ralaued by the and of Apri l. and the

•' April 30, 1915

1 Page 3

public c01111ent period would be extended to May 10 . At the

cloae of the public coaaent period, EPA will. in conaultation

with DIQE , aelect a preferred remedial action alternative.

Of the five r.-.dial action alternative• preaented in the

Draft K~ial Inveatlgation and FeadbUity Study, it ia the

Board ' 1 opinion that the only acceptable r~ involvea the

ucavation of all baaardou1 vaatea located on or releaaed fro.

the lryanaa ai te , aDd the plac~t of tbeae vaatea in a aecure

lODdfill . -tiler th!o lODdfill vill be an a!ot1D9 facility

looated. off-aite or a DeW facility caaatructecl onaite, il the

W1iW iu!ll · AD infor.d aDd intelligent choice bet,.. the on-1ite

lud.fill aDd the off-aite dhpoaal alternative• reqvirea a

tborOUCJh evaluation and full diacloaure of the feaaibility,

coata and (public bealth and enviro...ental) effecta of each .

'!'bh tbe Draft a-dial Inveatigation and Pe..ibility Study

doH not 4o . A -aninqful evaluation of the on-aite landfill

aDd the off-aite 4iapoaal alternativH require• that •any

quutiona includinq, for exaaple, thoae aet forth in the aarqin

Hov IIUch coat..inated ..terial will be excavated froca the llyanaa aite and ita environa7

Ia it certain that the entire volu.e of excavated vaate aaterial can be aafely placed in a hilltop landfill on the .,-anaa a1te7

•at are the potential long ter• effecta of an on-aite l0Ddf1ll vith reopect to the public health. oafety ODd welfare of Aahlanct and tbe quality of ita natur-al environ.entf)

April 30 , 1915 Paqe '

be anawred . We urge EPA to undertake thh evaluation and to

dhtribute the •- before cloainq the period for public

c~nt.

ODce the inforaation neceaaary to evaluate the •rita of

the on-aite lancSfill and off-aite dhpoaal alternative& baa

been preaented., an appropriate rule of dechion •uat be

applied . Baaed upon atat..nta by EPA and D1Q1t officiala, it

ia the loard 'a 1-.preallon that the r-.!y to be aeleeted vill

be tbe lowat coat alternative which provide• •ini..lly

oMq\lata protection of public bealtb Uld tile aovir-t . lucb

a rule of 4eeiaion oeglecta letlti..te health , aafety, welfare

aDd •viraa.etal concern• by preventiD9 the aelection of a

coat effective alternative vbich ia .,re reliable aD4

protective than the lovnt coat •ini•lly adequate r~. '!'be

loard , therefore. urgea DA and DIIQI to adopt a rule of

4eciaion wbicb conlidera all coat effective alternativft aD4 ia

not reatricted to the loveat co1t alternative .

Will it be nec111ary for the ec-onwalth to cond.~ tbe Jryanaa lite to carry out lonq tera operation and aalntenanc:e of an --oita landfill?

What i1 the elti•ated co1t , v ithin a reaaonable ranqe , of the off-lite dhpo1al alternative?

tbe ::~.:~:~~~ ~~!;t!~~~~t!i:!l0~~~!~:t 1~~~IT~tat1on of Can tbe co•t and/or rhkl of off- lite dhpo1al attributable

to tran1portation be reduced by utilhinq the adjacent railroad?

be .:::~~~~~: !!::.!.!!,0::,t~:; ~!!;:!~:.~:d!!~!r~:r.c~~~vill lryanaa?

.1 off-e-rt:'~!.ws'ti~f'!:;.:'t:~ ~~~~c:-:::t~~~~~~~ure the UA that

Apr il 30 , 1915 \ Paqe 5

Approval : The remedial action alternative selected by EPA

and DIQ! official• will be fully descr i bed in a l.ecord of

Deciaion (JIOI)) and oul>mitted for final EPA approval. Although

RODa are generally approved by the EPA Aaaiatant ~iniatrator ,

Office of Solid Maate and !:IMtrgency Reaponae , thb authority

.., be delegated to the Regional Administrator in appropriate

clrcuutancea . Delegation aubatantially ahorteu the approval

proceaa ; without tbia delegation there wou14 be little chance

that the atepe Menaary to allocate the fUDda available for

lfyUl8a ' o clHD- up will be ca.pleted by lept-r 30, ltl5 .

Authority to &JIPE'OYe the IOD for Phaae I r-.!ial action at

J lfyUl8a baa reportedly - deleqated to tba leqiOIUil

Adlliniltrator. 'l"hia delecj&tion of authority ia, howe'Y'er.

aubject to revocation if the r.-.dy to be aelected will (l) not

ca.ply with applicable health and environ.ental atudarda , or

(2) 9ive riae to a "public intereat circ~atance". To enaure

that the a.g"ional A~~llini1trator 's authority to appr:ove the ROD

for r~ial action at Wyanza is not withdraw., tbe r.-.dy

•elected 81Uit be (l) 1ufficiently protective of public bealth ,

1afety and enviroDIMht quality, and (2) fully acceptable to

1tate and local officials .

~: onder an Interagency Agreement with the EPA. the

U. 1 . Arlly Corpe of Eft9in"n (Corp•) h generally respon1ible

for deaigninq and developing cost estlaate• for tbe

..._; 1011'1-ntation of Iuperfund financed r-ial acti0111 . The

tiM neeesaary to initiate and co.plete desiqa. work under the

April 30, 1915 Paqe 6

Corpa' direction il protracted , due in major part to ita

adherence to atandard qovernmental procur..nt procedure• in

the aelection of a deaign contractor . In the alternative , it

i a poaaible for the EPA to r etain overaight of the deaign

proceaa by engaqinq a pre-approved Superfund contractor with

entlneering and deaiqn capabi lity . As the award of a deaign

cootract directly by the EPA will aave t.portant tiM, tbia

pcooeea llhould be followed &Dd any approvah neceaaary

therefore ahould be obtained ~lately . Further , ina..uch aa

tile deoip of .,.,... 'o cleon-up will be beoiiCI u- tbe doto

*1Gb baa olreody- 9-rotiiCI, rwiwecl ODd raportiiCI by-· it h our oplnlOD that retainlnq 1101 aa the deelgn contractor

) vov.ld be the Mat appropriate and expedl•t courae of actiOD .

Additioaa to and. refi~ta of the u:htiD9 data baae will

apper•tly be necHaary before deaip work il c~ed . To

date , tbe proceaa of aatedah aupliaq , analyt:il aDd reportin9

baa taken thr" to four ~KJnthl on avera!Je , and on occa1ion five

to aix .,ntb1 . Such turn- around- tiMa vill not per•it deaip

vork to be coapleted on achedule . To generate the dat a

neceaaary f or t i Mly des i CJil r equire• that r ...i n i ng s ampl ea be

t aken i -.d.i at ely and t heir ana lylia f ast-tracked to t he extent

poaaible .

~: Initial capital coat eett-tea for clean- up under

either the on- site landfill or off- aite diapoaal alternative

far exceed the $7 , 000 , 000 available for r-.dial act i on at

April 30, 1185 ••,. 7

Nyanza. Ad.d.i tional funda required to iapl...nt tiyanza ' a

clean-up can be drawn frca other projecta whoaa 1985 bud9at

will not be fully uhauate4 . Such funda ahould be added to tha

f ourth-quarter budqat for llyanaa and c~itted to it1 clean-up

thia fiacal year .

Superfund Contract& The allocation of federal fun4a to

iapl..nt r...Sial action at lfyanza requiraa that the State ,

t.hrouqh D&Qit , enter a Superfuad contract with the SPA un4ar

which it aaa\IMa tan percent of the project 'a capital

con • truction coet aa4 tha entire co.t of the project' a operation

and uinteaanoe . Olwioualy, a.QI: officiala aboulcl ea.ura that

f\lDda ....._ta to OCJIW'&r the lt.ate•a obli9atiou are •••ilabla .

equally illportaat, DA ud o.Qa official& ahould eater oontract

DeVOtiatiaa witb -.pla leed tiM to aecuta the coetract in a

taely faobion .

'ftla foretoill9 ara - the -t ~iata and ~rtallt

a tapa toward affectiDt a Superfund financed clHft-up of llyaaaa •

.. trv.at that you will be a atront advocate for •ction •t

Very truly your•,

Cont••••

April 30 , 1115 Page I

cc 1 Congrea...n Cheater Atk:ina Senator Edward L. aurke bpreaentativa A. llataioa Congr••-n Joaeph o . &arly aenator &dwar4 Jl. J:enne4y leutor John P. ltarry ..praaentativa David Magnani llepraaentativa ..rbl.ra Clray hpreaentativa Lucille P. 8icka ..preaantativa carol Micka a.tional Adldniatrator llicbael Jt . Del..a, &PA Deputy a.gional Adainiatrator Paul G. &ecNfb , &PA Director ..rrUl s . llobaan, DA C1laate ......-..t Div.l lecratary J-• A. aoyt.e, axecuU..-a Office of anv. Affaire c-iaaiooer &. auaHll lylYa, ~ ....,..ty c-ooioner ftcaao r . ..IA.....U.a, ­a..eral Counaal Willard a. Pope, .,..