Matteo & Sons, Inc.

Overview

The Matteo & Sons, Inc. site is a former junkyard, unregistered landfill, and metals recycling operation in Thorofare, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Operations began in 1961 and included landfilling crushed automobile battery casings, burning waste in an illegal incinerator to smelt lead, and storing abandoned drums of waste across the 82.5-acre property. State inspectors documented violations between 1968 and 1984. EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in September 2006.

Lead is the primary contaminant of concern in soil. Antimony, zinc, aroclor 1254, and aroclor 1260 are also present. These contaminants were found in soil across the overall site and, in some cases, in nearby residential properties. Contaminated soil and battery casing waste pose a risk to anyone who contacts them, with pregnant women and young children considered especially vulnerable. EPA has restricted access to contaminated areas using chain-link fencing and natural barriers such as creeks.

Cleanup is organized into three operable units. Operable Unit 2, covering residential properties where buried battery casings were found during a 2016 sewer repair, was fully cleaned up by September 2022. Operable Unit 1, which covers the scrapyard, an open field, a rental property, and a former trucking facility, is currently under active remediation. EPA approved the cleanup design in January 2023, calling for excavation and disposal of battery casing waste and impacted soil, plus capping of contaminated soil in the scrapyard area. This work is funded in part by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is estimated to be complete between September and November 2028. Operable Unit 3, addressing sediments and groundwater, is estimated to begin between September and November 2027. EPA plans to investigate groundwater and nearby surface waterbodies after soil cleanup wraps up.

EPA completed health and ecological risk assessments in 2015 and 2017. Those assessments found unacceptable risks for current and future residents, site workers, construction workers, and recreational users. Physical construction across the full site is not yet complete, and the site has not yet achieved sitewide readiness for anticipated use. EPA completed its first Five-Year Review in October 2025 to confirm that cleanup actions continue to protect public health and the environment.

Community members can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager with questions. Site documents are available for public review at the EPA's Superfund Records Center in New York City and at the EPA's Removal Records Center in Edison, New Jersey.