| Q |
What is the Final
Remedy for the Site? |
| A |
The
Final Remedy is a containment remedy which means that the
contaminated materials will remain on the site in a central
location under a specially designed cap. The containment area
will be maintained so that the cap continues to be effective at
containing the lead-contaminated materials safely. More
information on the selected remedy can be found at
Final Decision and
Response to Comments on Selection of Corrective Measure.
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Q |
How
long will the remedy take? |
| A |
Implementation of the final remedy (construction activities)
will take approximately 2 years.
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| Q |
Will there be a lot of trucks? Noise?
|
| A |
Compared
to the amount of trucks that come and go from the Site right
now, there will be a lot of trucks during construction. It will
not be all the time during the estimated two years of
construction; however, there will be quite a bit of activity
overall at the Site while the final remedy itself is being
implemented. After equipment is brought to the site early on,
most of the truck movement will be internal to the site and the
road traffic will mainly be for workers. However, construction
equipment moving around can be noisy with backup alarms and the
sound of engines. During certain times, there will be a lot of
fill material being brought to the site which will involve a lot
of trucks on the public roads. While clearing is going on, there
will be noise from saws and chippers. Borough ordinances
regarding work hours will be followed and we expect that the
construction work will stop during the winter months.
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| Q |
What about lead blowing from the site? |
| A |
The design plans call for
precautions to control the amount of dust in the air during the
final remedy. Additionally, there will be increased monitoring,
including real-time monitoring, during construction. Understandably, no one (including and perhaps,
especially Gould) wants to have any recontamination in the
off-site area as a result of implementation of the Final Remedy.
You may note that the
final remedy does call for confirmatory soil sampling to be done
off-site once the implementation of the final remedy is
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| Q |
What does the ambient air data mean? |
| A |
One way lead in air is measured
is by using high-volume air samplers that run
every six days for a 24-hour period. We have been monitoring the
site this way since 1989. The sampler draws in air
across a filter that collects the dust. This filter is sent to
the lab and the amount of lead in the dust is measured. The
results are in micrograms (1/1,000,000th of a gram) of lead per
cubic meter of air. For comparison, a speck of dust weighs about
10 micrograms, and the average person breathes a cubic meter of
air in about 2 hours. The typical results for lead in air in
Throop are in fractions of micrograms per cubic meter,
equivalent to breathing a dust particle every 3.4 months.
There are four high volume air samplers located at the site, one
sampler at the Mid-Valley Secondary Center on Underwood Road in
Throop, and one sampler located across the river in Dickson
City. The predominant wind direction at the site is from the
west and northwest. One sampler at the site is located in the
predominant upwind direction (HV-4), and the other three
samplers at the Site are located in the predominant downwind
direction (HV-1, HV-2, and HV-3). The Dickson City air monitor
provides background air data. Click here
to review the recent 24-hour ambient air lead data.
(Click here to review additional
information on air monitoring during construction activities.)
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| Q |
Where can I get information about the Site or about
the clean up? |
| A |
There are many ways you can obtain
information. This web site is hosted by Gould, owner of the
Marjol Site. If you would like to contact Gould’s Community
Relations Representative, Lisa Ayers, you may do so by e-mail at
layers@advancedgeoservices.com , by
telephone at the office 570.383.9313, cell 570.249.0918, or
fax 570.383.9309. You may also contact the EPA or PADEP project
managers for the Marjol Site. For their information,
click here.
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| Q |
What is considered “background lead” in yards for this area? |
| A |
Lead is found naturally in soil; therefore, there will always be
some lead in the soil in our yards. “Background” is a level that
varies based on many things, such as the area you live in, the
age of the houses, and proximity to roadways. “Background” for
the Throop area would be in the range of 300 to 350 ppm. This is
what would be expected for an average soil lead level for a yard
with an older home with the samples being taken outside of the
drip zone (the area closest to the house). It will be less for
the properties that had soil removed in 1988 to 1992 since the
replacement soils had lead concentrations below 50 ppm.
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| Q |
What impact has Marjol had on the groundwater at the site?
|
| A |
In the vicinity of
the Marjol site, groundwater is found in a mine pool, about 200
feet below the ground surface. During the Mine Subsidence
Investigation in 1998, samples from the Mine Pool were collected
and tested for lead. Both the total and dissolved lead
concentrations in groundwater samples from four of the five
sample locations were below the laboratory detection limit of
0,8 µg/l. The total lead sample result for the fifth
sample location was 0.99 µg/l, which is well below the USEPA
Action Level for Lead of 15 µg/l; the dissolved lead result for
this fifth sample location was below the detection limit.
These results show that lead from the Site is not dissolving and
migrating downward at measurable levels. There is no
groundwater remediation required under the Final Decision. |
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