Notice of Final Decision To Reissue the Vickery Environmental, Inc. Land-Ban Exemption

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice of Final Decision on a Request by Vickery Environmental, Inc. of Vickery, Ohio to Reissue its Exemption from the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA or Agency) that an exemption to the land disposal restrictions under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) has been granted to Vickery Environmental, Inc. (VEI) of Vickery, Ohio for four Class I injection wells located in Vickery, Ohio. As required by 40 CFR part 148, VEI has demonstrated, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that there will be no migration of hazardous constituents out of the injection zone or into an underground source of drinking water (USDW) for at least 10,000 years. This final decision allows the continued underground injection by VEI of only those hazardous wastes designated by the codes in Table 1 through its four Class I hazardous waste injection wells identified as #2, #4, #5 and #6. This decision constitutes a final U.S. EPA action for which there is no administrative appeal.

DATES:

This action is effective as of March 27, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephen Roy, Lead Petition Reviewer, U.S. EPA, Region 5, Water Division, Underground Injection Control Branch, WU-16J, Environmental Protection Agency, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604-3590; telephone number: (312) 886-6556; fax number (312) 692-2951; email address: roy.stephen@epa.gov. Copies of the petition and all pertinent information are on file and are part of the Administrative Record. It is recommended that you contact the lead reviewer prior to reviewing the Administrative Record.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

VEI submitted a request for reissuance of its existing exemption from the land disposal restrictions of hazardous waste in September, 2007. U.S. EPA staff reviewed all data pertaining to the petition, including, but not limited to, well construction, well operations, regional and local geology, seismic activity, penetrations of the confining zone, and computational models of the injection zone. U.S. EPA has determined that the hydrogeological and geochemical conditions at the site and the nature of the waste streams are such that reliable predictions can be made that fluid movement conditions are such that injected fluids will not migrate out of the injection zone within 10,000 years, as set forth at 40 CFR part 148. The injection zone includes the injection interval into which fluid is directly emplaced and the overlying arrestment interval into which it may diffuse. The injection interval for the VEI facility is composed of the Mt. Simon Sandstone between 2791 and 2950 feet below ground level. The arrestment interval for the VEI facility is composed of the Rome, Conasauga, Kerbel and Knox Formations between 2360 and 2791 feet below ground level. The confining zone at the VEI facility is composed of the Black River and Wells Creek Formations between 1816 and 2360 feet below ground level. The confining zone is separated from the lowermost underground source of drinking water (at a depth of 574 feet below ground level) by a sequence of permeable and less permeable sedimentary rocks. This sequence provides additional protection from fluid migration into drinking water sources.

U.S. EPA issued a draft decision, which described the reasons for granting this exemption in more detail, a fact sheet, which summarized these reasons, and a public notice on December 5, 2014, pursuant to 40 CFR 124.10. U.S. EPA held a public hearing on January 8, 2015, but no one elected to comment on the draft decision at the hearing. The public comment period ended on January 20, 2015. U.S. EPA received comments from VEI but no other parties during the comment period. U.S. EPA has prepared a response to VEI's comments, which can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/pubpdf/vei-response-to-comments.pdf. This document is part of the Administrative Record for this decision. U.S. EPA is issuing the final exemption with the changes identified in the response to comments.

Conditions

This exemption is subject to the following conditions. Non-compliance with any of these conditions is grounds for termination of the exemption:

(1) The exemption applies to the four existing hazardous waste injection wells, #2, #4, #5, and #6 located at the VEI facility at 3956 State Route 412, Vickery, Ohio.

(2) Injection of restricted hazardous waste is limited to the part of the Mt. Simon Sandstone at depths between 2791 and 2950 feet below the surface level.

(3) Only restricted wastes designated by the RCRA waste codes found in Table 1 may be injected.

(4) Maximum concentrations of chemicals that are allowed to be injected are listed in Table 2.

(5) The average specific gravity of the injected waste stream must be no less than 1.08 over a one-year period.

(6) VEI may inject up to a combined total of 240 gallons per minute into Well #2, #4, #5, and #6, based on a monthly average.

(7) This exemption is approved for the 20-year modeled injection period, which ends on June 30, 2027. VEI may petition U.S. EPA for a reissuance of the exemption beyond that date, provided that a new and complete petition and no-migration demonstration is received at U.S. EPA, Region 5, by January 31, 2027.

(8) VEI must submit, within 90 days after the exemption is granted, an approvable plan to demonstrate that chemicals listed in Table 2 are not or cannot be injected above the listed limits. Upon U.S. EPA's approval of this plan, VEI shall implement the plan per the schedule in the approved plan.

(9) VEI must submit copies of the reports on the annual bottom-hole pressure surveys conducted in well #2, #4, #5 or #6 to U.S. EPA when these reports are submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA). The reports must include a comparison of reservoir parameters determined from the fall-off test, such as permeability and long-term shut-in pressure, with parameters used in the approved no-migration petition.

(10) VEI must submit copies of the reports on the annual radioactive tracer surveys and annulus pressure tests for wells #2, #4, #5 and #6 to U.S. EPA when these reports are submitted to Ohio EPA.

(11) VEI shall notify U.S. EPA in writing if any injection well loses mechanical integrity, prior to any workover or plugging when these notifications are submitted to Ohio EPA.

(12) The petitioner must fully comply with all requirements set forth in Underground Injection Control Permits 03-72-009-PTO-I, 03-72-011-PTO-I, 03-72-012-PTO-I, and 03-72-013-PTO-I issued by Ohio EPA.

(13) Upon the expiration, cancellation, reissuance, or modification of the permits referenced above, this exemption is subject to review.

(14) Whenever U.S. EPA determines that the basis for approval of a petition under 40 CFR §§ 148.23 and 148.24 may no longer be valid, U.S. EPA may terminate this exemption and will require a new demonstration in accordance with 40 CFR § 148.20.

Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document electronically from the Government Printing Office under the “Federal Register” listings at FDSys ( http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).