Source: http://www.clickondetroit.com, November 17, 2016
By: Jason Colthorp

Agency looks into toxic fumes from cleaner

Homeowners in downtown Ann Arbor are facing new questions about air quality in their neighborhood as the Environmental Protection Agency does testing in and around their homes.
The agency is looking into toxic fumes they believe are coming from a dry-cleaning business that’s been there for nearly 70 years. It was first looked at in 1985 and the state found pollution from a dry cleaning solvent called perchlorethylene, or PCE.
Contamination concerns are nothing new for the cleaner. Observation wells went up in 2003 to keep an eye on what’s below, but now, the EPA worries about toxic vapors that might be getting into the neighboring houses.
“I’ve been going through this most of my adult life,” Harold Kim said.
Kim bought the business, Armen Cleaners, in the 90s, but not the property it sits on. He said the previous owner led him to believe the contamination issues had been resolved.
“If it didn’t get cleaned up, they should’ve gone after them, but they never did,” Kim said. “All the burden is on our shoulders, our family, and that’s very frustrating.”
Every new EPA test brings bad publicity, and Kim said his business has taken such a hit that he and his wife now each work second jobs.
“(In) 2005, we started losing a lot of business,” Kim said. “Customers started asking questions, lost more business, and we closed three stores. Now we’re down to just one store.”
The next-door neighbor thinks the EPA and the Department of Environmental Quality are keeping a close-enough eye on the situation that he’s not in any danger.
“I’d just like to know what the (parts per billion) are, but I’m not terribly concerned about it,” Bill Abbott said. “You don’t smell anything.”
That’s not calming enough for all the neighbors, though.
“A plume underneath the ground is one thing,” John Strobel said. “We don’t draw well water here, but we all breathe the air. We have a nice breeze that comes right from the dry cleaner here.”
Kim said the site has twice had plans for a total cleanup, once by the DEQ during the Granholm Administration and another through a private cleanup firm as part of a test project, but both times funding disappeared and the cleanups never happened.
Officials have to wait for test results to see what action will be taken.
The business originally used 1,200 gallons of PCE per year, but it was reduced to 300-400 gallons in the 90s and is down to 10 gallons per year. Officials said the damage was done and that the plume down deep is where the vapor is coming from.