An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Marjol Battery in Throop, Pennsylvania

On this page:


Cleanup Status

The Marjol Battery Site was remediated by Gould Electronics, Inc. by consolidating lead-contaminated waste and soil into a central landfill area, and containing the contaminated material with an engineered combination cap.  EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) approved the final remedy and reported construction complete on August 5, 2010.   The remedy consisted of:

  • Moving contaminated material away from near-surface, mined coal seams at the northern part of the site.
  • Consolidating the waste in a secure, on-site landfill, approximately ten acres in area.
  • Stabilizing the top layer of waste with a cement mixture to provide redundant protection from releases.
  • Installing an engineered combination cap (soil and synthetic layers).
  • Planting and maintaining a vegetative cover.
  • Cleaning the entire site surface to below the cleanup standard of 500 parts per million lead.
  • Continued monitoring, including blood lead screening.
  • Resampling community soil and demonstrating no recontamination.
  • Providing financial assurance for the maintenance of the remedy.
  • Performing on-site and off-site sampling  when necessary.
  • Operating and maintaining water runoff controls.

As of August 5, 2010, clean-up at the site is complete.  All contaminated waste and soil are consolidated into a central containment area. The contaminated material is covered with a layer of clean, solidified soil, and an engineered synthetic cap.  Construction activities started in spring 2018 and were completed in mid-summer 2010. PADEP and EPA are satisfied, through on-site inspection, monitoring, and environmental sampling data, that contaminated material was not released during the construction activities and that the cap is properly installed.

The groundwater aquifer is not impacted by the site contamination. The aquifer beneath the site is a Class III aquifer that is not suitable as a water supply source. A groundwater monitoring program continued through 2019.  Monitoring results showed no degredation of the groundwater.  In October 2019, PADEP and EPA terminated the groundwater monitoring requirement.

The owner has provided financial assurance for the construction and maintenance of the project by deposition money into a trust fund.

Top of Page


Site Description

Interactive map of Marjol Battery, Throop, PA

View larger map

The Marjol Battery and Equipment Company is a former battery processing facility located in the Borough of Throop, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. From 1963 to 1981, Marjol operations involved battery crushing, lead reclamation, and on-site disposal of spent battery casings. In May 1980, Gould purchased the Marjol Battery and Equipment Company and subsequently shut down plant operations in April 1982. The site was stabilized in 1992 to prevent the continuing release of contamination from the site. Construction of the final clean-up started in May 2008 and was completed in August 2010.

Prior cleanup actions by Gould (1988 through 1991) include the cleanup of 133 residential and commercial properties adjacent to the site, and the stabilization of the site to prevent releases of contamination from the site.  These actions were taken under the EPA Superfund program.

Top of Page


Contaminants at this Facility

Lead is the primary constituent of concern at the Site. Lead was present in approximately 372,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, battery casing material, and debris at the Site. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were identified in surface soil in former operational areas on Site. These contaminants were collocated with the lead-contaminated soil.  Lead was also identified in off-site soils in the surrounding community.  The community was remediated

Top of Page


Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

Since the remedy is a permanent containment landfill, controls are required to prevent any unauthorized breach of the landfill cap. A Notice of Institutional Control and Access (Instrument Number 200714776, Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds) restricts the use of the landfill cap area to operation and maintenance activities.  The Intuitional Control also restricts the remainder of the site, where regulated fill was placed, to non-residential use.

Top of Page


Land Reuse Information at this Facility

Maintenance and monitoring activities are the only site activities.

Top of Page


Site Responsibility at this Facility

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under both the direction of EPA Region 3 and by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Top of Page