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November 5, 2012
$2.18 Million Settlement Pending Against Owners of Shuttered Houston Dry Cleaner

HOUSTON — Settlement is largest in favor of a Texas county in suit against dry cleaner, attorney says

HOUSTON — Harris County (Texas) Attorney Vince Ryan reports that his office has reached a $2.175 million settlement in a case against owners of a shuttered dry cleaning facility here for chemical contamination of groundwater.

The lawsuit accused Redonda Properties and Seven BC, doing business as San Felipe Joint Venture, SF Properties, and PMSV River Oaks, L.P. of allowing dry cleaning solvents to contaminate the soil and groundwater under and near the former Hallmark Dry Cleaners on San Felipe Road in the River Oaks area of Houston.

According to the lawsuit, the area is contaminated with perchloroethelyne (perc).

The pending judgment is for the largest sum ever in favor of a Texas county against owners and operators of a dry cleaner, Ryan says. Money from the settlement will be divided equally between Harris County and the State of Texas. Notice of the proposed settlement was published Oct. 19 in the Texas Register. The public has 30 days from the date of publication to submit written comments.

October 8, 2012
Settlement Announced in Stanton Cleaners Superfund Site Cleanup Lawsuit

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Defendants to pay approximately $2.7 million for EPA's cleanup costs

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A civil environmental lawsuit stemming from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) cleanup at the Stanton Cleaners Area Groundwater Contamination Site in Great Neck, N.Y., has been settled, authorities report.

The lawsuit was brought against the estate of Lillion Wiesner, John P. Maffei, and the property at 110 Cutter Mill Road in Great Neck, where hazardous substances were disposed of by former dry cleaning operations, according to Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Judith A. Enck, regional administrator, EPA Region 2.

The complaint alleged the Wiesner estate was liable for EPA's response costs under the “Superfund law” as a current and past owner at the time of disposal of hazardous substances. Maffei was liable, authorities assert, because he is a de facto current and past owner of the property.

August 28, 2012
Profiling Customers to Increase Your Dry Cleaning Sales and Profit

SAN FRANCISCO — More you know about customers, more you can engage them with services

SAN FRANCISCO — The more you know about your customers, the more you can engage them with your services. The more you know about your best and most profitable customers, the more you can attract prospects that will become best customers.

So how do you go about it? You may have worked on compiling demographic information such as age, location and income levels. But is that enough?

DEMOGRAPHIC AND PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILING

Let’s use a hypothetical example: you have determined that you want to target consumers who earn more than $150,000, live in a specific ZIP code, are 35-45 years old, own a home worth more than the median price in your market, and have a college degree.

I’m going to describe two prospects:

August 9, 2012
Louisiana Cleaner Pleads Guilty to Perc Dumping

LAFAYETTE, La. — Cleaner stored perc in Rubbermaid containers, dumped waste down toilet

LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana dry cleaner pleaded guilty last week to negligently causing and allowing the discharge of hazardous waste—perchloroethylene, also known as perc—into a publicly owned treatment works or sewer system, according to U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley.

Jason Prejean, 38, of Lafayette owns One Low Price Cleaners (OLPC) and entered the guilty plea on behalf of him and his Lafayette business.

At the hearing, Prejean admitted that he acted negligently in failing to ensure the proper and lawful disposal of wastewater containing perc and that he failed to train OLPC employees on the lawful disposal of perc waste. He also admitted that he had not used a disposal company since February 2007.

Investigations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) revealed that from December 2007 through May 2009, perc was improperly stored on-site at OLPC and that employees routinely poured perc wastewater down the toilet inside the store.

May 27, 2008
Nine Accused of Gender-Pricing Violations

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The city of Santa Monica filed suit against nine operators last week, accusing them of violating California’s gender-pricing law after conducting a sting that visited 48 stores.

City officials said they found discrepancies between what a man and woman were charged at the stores during the sting, in violation of California’s 1996 law. “There is a difference between what men and women are charged,” said Paula Rockenstein, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office.