United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5502G)
EPA520-F-94-013
Summer 1994
v>EPA Superfund At Work
Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide
Marathon Battery Co.
Site Profile
Site Description:
Former battery manufacturing facility
Site Size: 350 acres
Primary Contaminants:
Heavy metals and trichloroethylene
Potential Range of Health Effects:
Kidney disorders, central nervous
and immune system deficiencies,
and lung cancer
Nearby Population Affected:
400 people within one mile
Ecological Concerns:
Hudson River, surrounding marshes,
wetlands, and wildlife
Year Listed on NPL: 1983
EPA Region: 2
State: New York
Congressional District: 21
Success in Brief
Diverse Conditions Require
Tailored Cleanup in New York
The Marathon Battery Company site encompasses wetlands,
archaeologically and historically sensitive land, a manufacturing and
warehousing facility, and contaminated residential areas. Because of
the site's diversity, the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA)
designed specific treatment remedies to address the effects of exten-
sive heavy metal contamination. Using Superfund authority, EPA and
private party cleanup efforts included:
Draining, dredging, and treating contaminated sediments and
replanting acres of coves and marshes along the Hudson River;
Excavating and treating contaminated soil surrounding the
battery plant and an underground vault;
Decontaminating and recycling books stored at the plant;
Excavating and landscaping residential yards near the site.
In reaching final remedy decisions, EPA asked for help from scien-
tists, citizens, and environmental groups at frequent public meetings.
The Agency settled with former property owners and plant operators
to conduct the cleanup, estimated at $91 million. The parties also
agreed to reimburse EPA $13.5 million for past cleanup and future
oversight costs.
Photo: Eric Lind, courtesy of Constitution Marsh Sanctuary, National Audubon Societ
"Beaver's little brother," the muskrat, is a fur-bearing, aquatic mammal
whose population has plummeted to 15% of normal because of cadmium
contamination in marsh cattails, a primary food source.
The Site Today
After a hard winter, the
former battery plant is coming
down and the site will soon be
an empty lot, available for
commercial applications. Area
ground water will need treat-
ment prior to use for years to
come. Wetlands replanting
efforts should be completed by
1995; natural recovery systems
for the marsh, including
wildlife and endangered
species, can best be accom-
plished in solitude.
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Superfund At Work Marathon Battery Co. Site, Cold Spring, NY Summer 1994-
Marathon
Battery Co. Site
Cold Spring, NY
The Marathon Battery
Company site encompasses
350 acres of land bordering
the Hudson River in lower
New York State. The site
includes the battery manufac-
turing plant, a residential
neighborhood, the Hudson
River in the vicinity of Cold
Spring Pier, and a series of
backwater river areas known as
East and West Foundry Cove
and Constitution Marsh.
A Site Snapshot
High levels of heavy
metals, including cad-
mium, nickel, and cobalt,
were found at the plant
and in river sediments
and marsh soil. Rela-
tively high levels of
cadmium concentrations
were detected in nearby residen-
tial yards of Cold Spring. Area
ground water contained elevated
levels of trichloroethylene (TCE).
Tidal action slowly flushed
cadmium deposits from the
wetlands of Foundry Cove into
the Hudson River. Accumulated
concentrations of cadmium in the
soil and sediments threatened the
marsh, indigenous wildlife, and
numerous plant species. Heavy
metals do not biodgrade and
therefore are highly persistent in
the environment, disturbing soil
microbial activity and affecting
plant and animal metabolism.
The short-nosed sturgeon, an
endangered species of fish,
migrates up and down the
Hudson and feeds on insect
larvae in the contaminated soil
sediments. Limited consump-
tion of another species, the blue
claw crab, is recommended.
Approximately 400 people
live within one mile of the
site. Potential health effects
from heavy metal contamina-
tion include kidney damage,
cardiovascular and immune
system deficiencies, central
nervous system disorders,
and lung cancer.
Marathon Battery Co.
II Hie 11 fie * 90,000 cubic meters removed and buried in vaiult
State detects cadmium and nickel in cove and marsh
Federal permit allows discharge of treated cadmium wastewater
EPA orders Marathon/Gould to dredge sediments
1
State detects cadmium in East Foundry Cove<^
Congress enacts Clean Water Act 4
Marathon Battery purchases plant <^
Sonotone builds treatment plant m
Series of owner/operators ]
Wastewater discharged in marsh ^
U.S. Army constructs battery
manufacturing plant
U.S. En\
Region 5
77 West
Chicago,
ironmentc
, Library (
Jackson E
IL 606C
1 Protects
DL-12J)
oulevard,
4-3590
I
+
«
>n Agency
12th Floor
~l r
1
1952
early 1960s
1965
1969
1970
1971 1972-1973
1975
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Superfund At Work Marathon Battery Co. Site, Cold Spring, NY Summer 1994'
Wetlands Endure 27 Years of Pollution
The site's history began in 1952
when the U.S. Army constructed
a plant for battery manufacturing
outside the town of Cold Spring.
A series of owners made batteries
at the plant for commercial or
military use; Marathon Battery
owned and operated the plant
from 1969 until 1979. Other
owners included Sonotone Cor-
poration, Clevite Corporation,
and Gould, Inc.
Prior to 1965, the facility dis-
charged untreated wastewater
into the Hudson River through
the municipal sewer system.
During periods of overload or
system shutdown, wastewater
was discharged directly into East
Foundry Cove Marsh (see map).
In 1965, the State Department
of Health concluded that the new
Cold Spring municipal sewage
treatment system under design
would not be able to handle the
plant's industrial wastewater.
The plant was required to de-
velop a new system for treatment.
Plant operators began to dis-
charge treated wastewater di-
rectly into East Foundry Cove.
But the treatment process devel-
oped for the plant did not work
consistently and contaminated
wastewater frequently entered
the Cove.
In 1971, state officials detected
high cadmium levels in East
Foundry Cove in violation of the
Clean Water Act of 1970. To
comply with an EPA order,
Marathon Battery Company and
Gould Inc. dredged a portion
of the cove in 1972 and 1973,
removed 90,000 cubic meters
of contaminated sediments,
and buried the residue in a clay-
lined, underground vault on the
property.
East Foundry Cove
sustained years of
cadmium discharge
In 1975, Marathon Battery
obtained a federal permit to
discharge treated wastewater
containing low levels of cad-
mium. Despite the earlier dredg,-
ing, sampling in 1976 revealed
continued high cadmium and
nickel concentrations in the
marsh. In 1979, the company
closed the plant and moved from
Cold Spring to Texas. Merchan
Marathon Battery closes plant and relocates
Merchandise Dynamics purchases plant for book warehouse
Congress enacts CERCLA
EPA adds site to NPL
Archaelogical artifacts first uncovered
Merchandise Dynamics declares bankruptcy
Following public comment, remedy selected for Area I
1 EPA orders Marathon and Gould to clean up the former battery plant
m »Army and Marathon reimburse EPA for Area II
Consent decree with Gould for cleanup of Areas I, II and III
Army and Marathon set up trust fund
EPA recovers costs
1979 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992
Dredging in Areas I and III
scheduled for completion
Excavation and
restoration of Area I
Replanting in Areas I
and III completed
1993
1994
1995 Ongoing
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'Superfund At Work Marathon Battery Co. Site, Cold Spring, NY Summer 1994
dise Dynamics, Inc. purchased the
property in 1980 for use as a book
storage facility. Later that year,
Congress enacted the Compre-
hensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act
to address cleanup of the nation's
hazardous waste sites.
Investigations at the battery
plant began in 1983 when the
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) sampled the marsh
and analyzed various cleanup
alternatives. Because of the
severity and extent of contamina-
tion, EPA added the site to the
National Priorities List (NPL) of
uncontrolled or abandoned
hazardous waste sites requiring
long-term cleanup under the
Superfund program.
Business activities ceased at
the site in 1986 when Merchan-
dise Dynamics declared bank-
ruptcy; the warehoused books
were contaminated with cad-
mium dust by this time.
EPA Tailors Cleanup to
Maximize Effectiveness
EPA assumed responsibility for
the site in 1986, dividing the
cleanup into three geographical
areas. Before activities began,
EPA opened an Information
Repository so that interested
members of the public would be
kept apprised of site progress.
Area I: Sensitive Wetlands
Following a period of public
comment, EPA selected a remedy
Cold
Spring
Marathon Battery Co. Site
Cold Spring, MY .
(not to scale) ^r
Area Description
I East Foundry Cove Marsh and Constitution Marsh
II Former battery plant, surrounding property, nearby residential yards
111 East Foundry Cove, West Foundry Cove, and Cold Spring pier area
to excavate contaminated sedi-
ments from East Foundry Cove
Marsh. Following treatment and
off-site disposal of sediments, the
marsh would be restored with
clean soil and replanted. Reme-
dial operations would require
building a dike around the marsh
and constructing a short rail spur
to haul away treated soil, avoid-
ing disruption of Cold Spring's
historic downtown district. Work
continued on page 5
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Superfund At Work Marathon Battery Co. Site, Cold Spring, NY Summer 1994
27 Years of
Pollution
continued from page 4
to excavate and replant the marsh
and dredge the cove is ongoing
under a Consent Decree signed in
1993 (see below).
Because of limited contamina-
tion and the possibility that hu-
man intervention could cause
more environmental harm than
good, Constitution Marsh will not
be remediated.
Area II: The Battery Plant and
Residential Areas
The cleanup approach selected
for Area II included the 11-acre
plant grounds, the interior of the
facility including the books, the
underground vault, and nearby
residential yards, hi 1989, EPA
issued a Unilateral Administrative
Order to Marathon and Gould to
participate in the facility cleanup
valued at approximately $2.3
million.
In late 1991, the companies
completed a pilot study on ways
to decontaminate books in the
warehouse. Cleanup of the plant's
interior was completed in late 1992
and the books recycled. During
the winter of 1993, part of the roof
collapsed on the facility, and the
responsible parties agreed to
demolish the structure altogether.
The plant ground remediation,
including excavation of the vault,
was begun in mid-1993 concur-
rently with Areas I and III and
should be completed by late 1994.
Ground water contamination will
be monitored for 30 years.
Nearby Residents Get
New Landscaping
Over the years, contamination
from the battery plant had mi-
grated to the yards of nearby
residents in the town of Cold
Spring. The Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry, a
federal partner with EPA that
conducts risk assessments at
Superfund sites, recommended a
cleanup level for cadmium in soil
at 20 parts per million (ppm). EPA
removed the top layer of contami-
nated soil and relandscaped those
areas where concentrations ex-
ceeded 20 ppm.
EPA completed the design work
on the residential yards in 1991
and completed excavation and
relandscaping in mid-1992.
NYSDEC officials took additional
precautions by cleaning up the soil
of those residences with cadmium
levels between 10 and 20 ppm,
bringing the total residential
cleanup to 17 homes.
Area III: The Coves and Cold
Spring Pier
Engineering designs for Area
III began in mid-1989 and were
completed in early 1992. Follow-
ing a series of negotiations as-
sisted by the U.S. Department of
Justice, previous property owners
signed a Consent Decree that was
entered by the court in April 1993.
Under this decree, Gould agreed
to conduct the cleanup, while
Marathon Battery Co. and the
U.S. Army paid $41 million into a
trust fund for cleanup operations,
in addition to $11 million previ-
ously placed in the trust fund for
Area II.
Dredging of sediments started
later that year from East Foundry
Cove and the Hudson River in
the vicinity of Cold Spring Pier.
Sediments were thickened,
chemically fixed, and disposed
off site. Concurrent excavation
operations in Area I should be
completed by the fall of 1994 and
replanting efforts by 1995. West
Foundry Cove was not disturbed,
since contamination will be
naturally covered by clean sedi-
ments over time.
In addition, the responsible
parties agreed to reimburse EPA
for $9 million in past costs, $1.5
million for prior cleanup activi-
ties, and up to $3 million for
oversight costs.
Agency
Floor
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Superfund At Work Marathon
.. Site, Cold Spring, NY Summer 1994
Cleanup Develops Into
Archaeological Dig
During site investigation
and sampling activities,
engineers uncovered
valuable Indian
artifacts and Civil
War relics. The
town of Cold
Spring is on the
National Historic
Register because
of some well-
preserved
architecture
and Civil
War signifi-
cance. Because
some of the town's streets are
very narrow, heavy dump
trucks laden with construction
equipment and soil sediments
from the site would have dam-
aged the historic streets and
building foundations.
For this reason, contaminated
waste was removed on a short
rail spur built over a
track originally used
by a foundry that
produced Civil War
cannons.
EPA retained
professional
archeologists to
assist with the
proper removal
and recording of
artifacts, providing an exciting
glimpse into the history of
Native American Indians and
the Civil War in New York.
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Success at
Marathon
Batteiy Co.
This large and diverse site
with ecological sensitivity,
endangered species, con-
taminated residential yards,
and archaeological signifi-
cance has required careful
and painstaking cleanup
procedures. EPA made
considerable progress at the
site by tailoring remedies to
specific areas, using private
resources for cleanup efforts,
and involving citizens in
decisions. Wetland recovery
efforts and ground water
monitoring will continue for
the next 30 years.
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contains at least 50% recycled fiber
&EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
5502G
Washington, D.C. 20460
Bulk Rate
Postage and Fees Paid
EPA
Permit No. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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