All News Releases By Date

Environmental agencies to host informational open house on final clean-up of Marjol Battery site

Release Date: 04/04/2008
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543, [email protected]

PHILADELPHIA (April 4, 2008) On Tuesday, April 8, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will host an informational open house at the Throop Borough Municipal Center to discuss the implementation of the final clean-up remedy at the Marjol Battery and Equipment Company site. The municipal center is at 436 Sanderson Street in Throop, Pa.

Construction of the selected clean-up remedy is slated to start this spring. The clean-up at the site will entail the consolidation and containment of contaminated waste and soil. Waste will be covered with a multi-tiered cap which will include a layer of soil solidified with cement, an impermeable synthetic liner, an additional synthetic liner and will be topped with clean soil and vegetation.

Prior to capping, the waste will be relocated to an area of the site away from a five foot coal seam located near the surface. The waste will be relocated so if there is a mine fire, or pothole subsidence, it will not pose a hazard to the waste in the containment structure.

Strict control standards will be maintained during the construction. Air monitoring will be conducted and no visible dust generation will be permitted. In addition, basins will be maintained to prevent contaminated water and soil runoff from leaving the Site. The project will be conducted under the joint oversight of EPA and PADEP.

Lead is the primary contaminant of concern at the site. Lead is a heavy metal which may cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

The open house format differs from the usual public meeting. There will be no stage or speakers agenda. Interested parties will be free to move between a series of stations manned by the two agencies to ask questions and receive updated information. Representatives from the property owner Gould’s Electronics, Inc. are also expected to be on-hand.

For more information on the Marjol Battery and Equipment Company site go to: https://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/pa/pdf/pad003041910.pdf

For more information on lead go to: www.epa.gov/lead