The Tonolli Corp. site in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, operated as a secondary lead smelter and battery recycling facility from 1974 to 1985. Workers crushed batteries and recovered lead and plastics. In 1985, arsenic and cadmium turned up in on-site monitoring wells, and the company filed for bankruptcy. EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in October 1989.
EPA identified seven contaminants of concern: antimony, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc. These have been found in groundwater, soil, sludge, liquid waste, solid waste, sediment, and building structures. Lead, arsenic, and cadmium also reached Nesquehoning Creek. A former smelter and recycling operation contaminated on-site soils and groundwater with those metals as well as chromium. Anyone trespassing on the site could face risks from contact with or accidental swallowing of contaminated water, soil, or debris.
EPA completed construction cleanup by December 1999. Work included demolishing contaminated buildings, excavating lead-contaminated soil, treating wastewater and landfill leachate, removing contaminated sediments from Nesquehoning Creek, and building a landfill cap with a new waste cell. About 5,000 cubic yards of fuel oil-contaminated soil went through on-site bioremediation and was reused as topsoil. A 500,000-gallon wastewater lagoon was addressed in a 1989 emergency action. Since the original 1992 cleanup decision, EPA has issued six updates adjusting the approach, adding techniques like phytoremediation and refining performance standards and institutional controls.
Groundwater cleanup goals have been met in the deep aquifer. In the shallow aquifer, cadmium, arsenic, and antimony still exceed cleanup levels, though lead concentrations are now below cleanup goals. The site operates under institutional controls that limit use to industrial purposes only and bar disturbance of the landfill cap. EPA's 2023 five-year review concluded the remedy continues to protect human health and the environment. Ongoing groundwater monitoring will track progress toward shallow aquifer cleanup goals. The next five-year review is scheduled for 2028. In October 2025, EPA issued updated guidance on residential lead exposure at contaminated sites, and Region 3 is evaluating how that guidance applies here.
Community members can get involved through EPA's Community Involvement Program, which encourages early and meaningful participation in Superfund cleanups. Fact sheets from 1998 and 1999 are available. Site records can be reviewed at the Nesquehoning Borough Office at 114 W. Catawissa Street or at EPA Region 3 at 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Philadelphia. Appointments are required at both locations. For questions, contact Community Involvement Coordinator Lisa Trakis or Remedial Project Manager Matthew Paris.
