source Courier Post

Federal Register: May 2, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 85)]

[Notices]

[Page 24109-24110]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr02my97-81]

———————————————————————–

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5819-9]

Notice of Proposed Administrative Order on Consent for Removal

Action Under Sections 104, 106(a), 107, and 122 of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Regarding the

Vanguard Vinyl Siding, Inc. Site, Gloucester City, New Jersey

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposed administrative order on consent for removal

action and opportunity for public comment.

———————————————————————–

SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 122(i) of the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended

(“CERCLA\’\’), 42 USC Sec. 9622(i), the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (“EPA\’\’) Region II announces a proposed Administrative Order on

Consent for Removal Action under sections 104, 106(a), 107, and 122 of

CERCLA, relating to the Vanguard Vinyl Siding, Inc. Site (“Site\’\’),

Gloucester City, New Jersey. This Site is not on the National

Priorities List established pursuant to section 105(a) of CERCLA. This

notice is being published to inform the public of the proposed Order

and of the opportunity to comment.

The Administrative Order on Consent for Removal Action (the

“Order\’\’), is being entered into by GAF Corporation (“GAF\’\’) and EPA.

The Site occupies approximately two acres in an industrial section

of Gloucester City, New Jersey, near the Delaware River.

GAF commercially produced asbestos-containing insulating products

at the Site from 1967 to October 1971. In 1981, GAF sold the Site to

Vanguard Vinyl Siding, Inc. The Site was abandoned in 1985 and is

currently unoccupied.

The objective of this Order is to eliminate the threat of contact

with asbestos posed at the Site. Under the Order, GAF will remediate

three sources of asbestos on Site.

The first source of asbestos contamination at the Site is the

asbestos that was stabilized during an initial removal action

undertaken by EPA. This asbestos is currently double-bagged and staged

inside a building on the Site. The second source of asbestos

contamination is the asbestos materials inside a 10,000 gallon tank

located in a courtyard. The third source is the asbestos contaminated

soil in the courtyard.

GAF will dispose of the double-bagged asbestos currently staged

inside the on-site building. GAF will also remove and dispose of the

tank in the courtyard, or, will remove the asbestos from the tank,

decontaminate the tank, and dispose of the asbestos. GAF will sample

soil in the courtyard and surrounding the tank to determine the extent

of soil containing more than 1 percent asbestos (“asbestos

contaminated soil\’\’). GAF will either: (1) Excavate, remove, and

dispose of, or, (2) cap, asbestos contaminated soil situated in the

courtyard. GAF will backfill any excavated areas with clean fill.

Under this Order, GAF agrees to reimburse EPA\’s past response costs

in the amount of one hundred seventy-eight thousand dollars

($178,000.00). GAF will also reimburse EPA for future response costs,

if any.

DATES: EPA will accept written comments relating to the proposed

settlement for a period of thirty days from the date of publication of

this notice.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to: Delmar Karlen, Chief, New Jersey

Superfund Branch, Office of Regional Counsel, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866.

Comments should reference the Vanguard Vinyl Siding, Inc. Site and EPA

Index No. II-CERCLA-96-0107. For a copy of the Order, contact the

individual listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carl R. Howard, Assistant Regional

Counsel, New Jersey Superfund Branch, Office of Regional Counsel, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, NY

10007-1866; Telephone: (212) 637-3216.

[[Page 24110]]

Dated: April 17, 1997.

William J. Muszynski,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-11485 Filed 5-1-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

Gloucester wins softball title

Gloucester City, New Jersey Internment Facility

Female internees at Gloucester City dancing for Justice Department audience in 1943, reportedly hoping to win their release. Note fence around facility. National Archives Photo.

The US Immigration Station which held detainees near Gloucester City, New Jersey was a large, converted Victorian house on South King Street, in an industrial area across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. It held male and female detainees temporarily who were on their way to other more permanent facilities. Many women, however, were held for extended time periods. The facility held approximately 50 individuals at a time. Reports indicate that the internees were reasonably well cared for and liked the officer in charge very much. Pictured above is a field day in which the internees performed German songs and folk dances for DoJ officials, many original compositions. Fox, Stephen, Fear Itself: Inside the FBI Roundup of German Americans during World War II, iUniverse 2005, p. 170-171. \”Women were issued a pair of shoes and a dress, men shoes and work pants, plus two free packs of cigarettes each week for both. Internees could earn 80 cents a day making handicrafts and were allowed to keep up to ten dollars at a time. Anything more was held in an account. … As in all camps, all internees were entitled to regular visitors, although strict rules of nondiscussion and message censorship applied.\” Arnold Krammer, Undue Process: The Untold Story of America’s German Alien Internees, Rowman and Littlefield, 1997, p. 86-87. One craft item the women keep for themselves: a small leaf with two acorns. The back of the pin had a tag with the wearer’s date of arrest with a blank for the date of release. Fox, Fear Itself, p.171.

The Gloucester City facility has been renovated and is now the headquarters of Holt Oversight and Logistical Technologies seen above.

The Philadelphia station

Properties Associated with Detention

 Temporary Detention Stations

 Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Justice Department began arresting \”dangerous\” enemy aliens residing in the United States.104 Approximately 2,000 Issei were held

in temporary detention stations, operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from December 7, 1941 until late January of 1942. Most were long-time U.S. residents,

prohibited by law from becoming citizens. Many of the language teachers, clergy, and newspaper editors targeted for arrest were leaders in their communities.

According to the INS, enemy aliens were held at 20 temporary detention facilities leased or borrowed from other federal agencies: Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh and Nanticoke, Pennsylvania;

Tampa and Miami, Florida; Syracuse and Niagara Falls, New York; Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Salt Lake

City, Utah; Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota; Tujunga (Tuna Canyon) and Los Angeles (Terminal Island), California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Baltimore, Maryland. Eight existing

INS detention facilities held what may have been a significant number of enemy aliens: San Francisco, San Pedro, and San Ysidro, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan;

Gloucester City, New Jersey; Ellis Island, New York; and Seattle, Washington.105

105 According to the INS History, Genealogy, and Education website (uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/eacamps):

\”Nearly all INS stations had some detention space for routine use during World War II. Districts also had standing

contracts with local, state, or Federal agencies for the routine or occasional use of additional detention space. Any or

all of these facilities might have held an alien classified as an enemy alien at one time or another during World War

II.\”