Content about Disaster

WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the final health assessment for tetrachloroethylene—also known as perchloroethylene, or perc—to its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database in February, it deemed the chemical to be a “likely human carcinogen.”

The assessment replaces the 1988 IRIS assessment for perc and for the first time includes a hazard characterization for cancer effects. The assessment underwent several levels of rigorous, independent peer review including: agency review, interagency review, public comment, and external peer review by the National Research Council, according to the EPA, and all major review comments were addressed.

The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance says 70% of U.S. commercial dry cleaners use perc; EPA estimates the total number to be 27,000. So what does this development mean for the future of the industry’s preferred solvent?

NEW YORK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a plan to clean up ground water at the Peninsula Boulevard Ground Water Plume Superfund site in Hempstead, N.Y.

The ground water is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene, dry-cleaning chemicals that can seriously impact people’s health, EPA says.

The cleanup plan entails extracting ground water from the site using pumping wells and treating the water to remove the contaminants before it is disposed of at a public wastewater treatment facility or sent back into surface or ground water.

Residents in the area get their drinking water from the Long Island American Water Co., which operates a drinking water well field approximately 1,000 feet north of the Peninsula Boulevard site. EPA did not detect any contaminants above acceptable levels in ground water from the company during its investigation.

A series of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation investigations in the 1990s revealed an extensive ground water contaminant plume at the site of the former Grove Cleaners, EPA says.

CHICAGO — Enough from the national press! If someone dies, they cover it. If there’s violence, they cover it. If the economy crashes and burns, they cover it. But if there’s slow, localized economic improvement, they don’t cover it. 

If we rely on television and newspapers to tell us what to do next, we’re in trouble. It’s up to us to anticipate the future and begin to move forward. We are the experts in our own markets, and should know what to expect from them.

DETROIT – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California recently dismissed an environmental contamination case against Hoyt Corp., a drycleaning equipment manufacturer formerly based in Wesport, Mass. The plaintiff, Hinds Investments LP, claimed Hoyt Corp. was responsible for perchloroethylene contamination on its property and was seeking damages for environmental remediation costs.

CHICAGO — Drycleaners nationwide reported subtle improvements in the business climate, according to this month's StatShot survey, but February's freak snowstorms kept year-to-year sales declines common.

Sales dropped 6.4% in the Midwest last month from February 2009. In the South, where unexpected, heavy snowfalls paralyzed major metro areas such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., sales fell 5.4%.

The old saying, “There’s no sense crying over spilt milk” could apply to Chicago’s recent contamination problems. However, spilt milk can be cleaned up with a towel; solvents are considerably more difficult.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for a clean environment. I’m also for a free market. But in the free market of the last century, many businesses took their chances with sloppy housekeeping.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf shores downstream from New Orleans, its storm surge weakening and eventually breaking through the system of levees protecting the city. And slowly, New Orleans — built in a “bowl” two to 12 feet below sea level — began to fill with water.

People often compare drycleaners and airlines in terms of service and competition. Both industries make a profit on how well they price their product in a highly competitive marketplace, and both benefit from providing quality service.

Both industries also deal in safety — airlines keep people safe from accidents by building redundancies into every system. Drycleaners keep customers’ clothes safe while they’re in their custody for renovation.

CHICAGO — Battered by a flagging economy and declining sales, more than half (55%) of drycleaners responding to American Drycleaner’s most recent Wire survey say that they expect the economy to get worse before it gets better. One-quarter of respondents expect economic conditions to stay about the same in 2009, while 20% expect the economy to improve.

It is beyond comprehension why anyone would consider buying or selling a drycleaning plant before conducting an evaluation and inspection. And yet, it happens all the time.

I perform inspections on an average of two plants per month. In the same time, 30 to 40 operations nationwide probably change hands without an inspection from an environmental expert.

Today, I represent six drycleaners with contaminated properties in active lawsuits. Most went into the buying and selling process as if there were no problems to consider.

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Environmental Protection Agency recently released a plan to clean up a 140-acre plume of perc-contaminated groundwater that lies under homes and businesses in Billings, Mont. The plan will launch a cleanup as early as spring 2008 to prevent the contamination from spreading.

EPA says the effort will cost about $7 million and take up to five years. Superfund money will pay for the initial cleanup costs, and EPA may seek reimbursement from the party or parties responsible for the release.