04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Marathon Site

Marathon Battery

Cold Spring, NY

CERCLA Cleanup

Project Goals

Project Description

Competitive Analysis

Technology

Resources

Procedures

Schedules & Status

Related Documents

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Site Description

On the Hudson River in NY; Two components:

East Foundry Cove Marsh (EFCM) Constitution Marsh

Click for Details

04/18/23

Site Map

04/18/23

East Foundry Cove Marsh

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

History: US Army

1952: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Constructed

1953, under Contract with the Army Signal Corps, Sonotone Corporation operated plant to produce nickel-cadmium batteries for use in the Nike missile program

Run under Army ownership 1953-1962; declared “excess proprty in 1962.

Click for Data Sheet

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Private Owners

1962: U.S. sold it to Sonotone Corporation.

1967: Sonotone Corporation became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clevite Corporation

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Marathon

1969, Clevite Corporation Merged with Gould, Inc.

1969, Gould, Inc. sold the Plant to Business Fund, Inc.; later changed its name to Marathon Battery Company (MBC)

MBC operated the plant until March 1979.

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

After the Battery Era

Plant inactive from 3/79 until 11/80 Battery manufacturing equipment

removed and shipped to an MBC plant in Waco, Texas

Sold to the current owner, Merchandise Dynamics, incorporated, for use as a book storage facility

Click for Details

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Contaminants of Concern

Cadmium: Cd Toxic to humans, animals and plants Carcinogenic Waste stream had huge amounts of

Cd, mostly as Cd hydroxide (10’s-100’s mg/L)

Also caustic wastes (pH 12-14)

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Original Wastewater Treatment System A lift station and piping for transfer of all

process wastewater into the Cold Spring sewer (100,000-200,000 gal/day)

Discharged directly into the Hudson River Bypass Valve Was Installed When the Lift Station Was Shut down or

Overloaded, direct Gravity Discharge Could Be Made into a Storm Sewer

Click for Detailed Schedule

04/18/23W. Fish, Portland State

University

Discharges to EFCM

High dissolved solids and pH 12-14 of the effluent resulted in extreme fouling within the pump and piping

Pumps required shut down and maintenance

Bypass valve was opened and the flow diverted to EFCM about twice a week

04/18/23

Cadmium Load: Approximately 50,000 kg

(over 52 tons) of cadmium may have been discharged to the cove during the life of the plant

About half the metal purchased did not make in into batteries

04/18/23

New Sewage Plant 1965: New York State Department of

Health said Cold Spring must build sewage treatment plant

Battery Plant effluent could not be handled: too toxic

Sonotone ordered to disconnect from sewer

Entire waste flow diverted to storm sewer USACE (1966) told company to quit

discharging to the Hudson

04/18/23

Attempts at Treatment January 1967: NY Dept of Health advised

Sonotone it was in violation Plant given Jan 1, 1970 deadline to

comply with state discharge regulation Sonotone installed treatment equipment Never really worked, Cd kept on flowing NY found lots of Cd in marsh, river

04/18/23

70 Civ. 4110 Judgement of Federal Court Suit brought under Federal Water

Pollution Control Administration against Marathon (pre-EPA)

Enforcement then shifted to new EPA

04/18/23

Relief Sought by U.S. Permanent injunction against

further discharge of Cd and other metals into Foundry Cove

Demanded removal of Cd in sediments

Sept. 1971: Complaint amended, named Sonotone, Cleveite and Gould as additional defendants

04/18/23

Final Judgment (70 Civ.4110) June 1972: Remove all sediment with

Cd >900 ppm (mg/kg) 1971: Discharge was stopped; routed

back to sewer after treatment 1972-1973: Hydraulic dredging by

GOULD Design: Dr. Harry Gregor, Columbia U.

04/18/23

1st Dredging Operation Hydraulic dredging of “hot” areas Dr. Gregor instructed crew to

remove all soft sediment from outfall area (~2-4 ft deep)

Gravel base fairly clean In Cove, Gregor delineated with

stakes 22 acres with Cd > 1000 ppm

04/18/23

On-Site Soil Handling Spoils dewatered in parking lot inside

a temporary dike dewatering leaked all over the place Effluent settle overnight, discharge to

marsh Solids mixed with limestone, scored in

underground vault on site

04/18/23

Areas Dredged Outfall area Channel leading to the marsh Cove:Winter ’72 ice uprooted

stakes and Gregor had to redelineate and finish in spring 1973

About 4000 cu.m. stored in vault

04/18/23

“Satisfaction” April 24, 1974: US Attorney issues

“satisfaction of judgment” Site is off the hook…or isi it? Agreement included monitoring by

NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)

Studies by NYSDEC, EPA, NYU

04/18/23

Whoops, There it Is Studies showed much of area was

still > 900 mg/kg Channel area was recontaminated In fact in 1973 Gregor had to have

channel redredged, but he did not worry about surrounding marsh

Only about 10% of Cd had been removed

04/18/23

Dr. Theo Kneip, NYU 1974: Found the recontamination Found the 1000 ppm zone was 50%

larger than Gregor’s zone just one year before

>50,000 ppm within the area dredged the prior year! (= 5% Cd by weight)

135,000 pmm near the outfall

04/18/23

Cd Data of Kneip et al. 1974

04/18/23

MBC Internal Memos: “He told Jack that he was working

on a Federal grant and, as a matter of courtesy wanted us to know the Cd background level of the Hudson River is higher in many cases after the dredging than before”

04/18/23

MBC Internal Memos [10 days later] “At any rate he

now reports increased Cd levels in the cove and the river due to the dredging. This does not necessarily bother or surprise us, since this was our prediction and which was basically ignored by the Final Jedgment [sic].”

04/18/23

CERCLA 1980: CERCLA Passed 1981: First National Priority List

(NPL) Prepared Guess what was one of the first

sites proposed for the interim NPL? 1983 went on Final NPL Also OSHA found high Cd dust

inside book warehouse

04/18/23

CERCLA Units

1986 Record of Decision (ROD): Three “Operating Units” (OU’s) Area I: EFCM & Constitution Marsh Area II: Plant, grounds, vault Area III: Cove itself and Hudson

04/18/23

RI/FS Findings ~8% of EFCM had >1000 mg/kg Cd

04/18/23

Sediment Cd Profiles

04/18/23

Cd Accumulation in Biota High levels of Cd found in a number of

organisms (e.g., Limnodrilus hoffmeisterii)

04/18/23

Cd Accumulation in Muskrats

04/18/23

Muskrats in Cold Spring Exhibit Odd behavior

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbh9c0noR4s

04/18/23

ROD Plan: 1986 Dredge Hudson near old sewer

outfall Dredge Cove and EFCM, dewater,

haul offsite Re-vegetate EFCM Leave Constitution Marsh alone

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) 2 other RODS issued ‘88, ‘89

04/18/23

Final Consent Decrees

Marathon, Gould, USACE are Responsible Parties (RP’s)

Total cost $109 million Gould $57M ACOE $43 M Marathon $9M

Insurance paying much of Gould and MBC

04/18/23

Dredging Began 1993 Dredging removed 55,000 cu.yd

sediment to depth of 1 ft. Assumed to get about 95% of Cd this

way Unlike 1972-73, did not shoot for a

specific target concentration Dredging completed in 1994

04/18/23

Marsh Cleanup 1800’ dike, 6-7 ft high 31,000 cu.yd soil excavated,

treated, shipped of site Reconstructed and revegetated

the marsh

04/18/23

Marsh Cleanup

DikeDike

Treatment

Dewatering Pond

Drainage

Stored Sludge

RR Line

Rail Transfer

FoundryCove

04/18/23

Sediment Cd “Fixation”

04/18/23

Rail Line for Removal

04/18/23

DELISTING Declared

finished and delisted from NPL, October 1996