Posted on 01.08.16
Long Beach dry-cleaner cited by state DEC
Source: http://liherald.com, January 7, 2016
By: Joseph Kellard
Nu-Clear Dry added to registry of contaminated sites
A longtime Long Beach dry-cleaning business is working to clean up contamination from compounds that leaked from the property’s facility and landed it on a registry of statewide sites deemed substantially hazardous.
Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners, at 180 E. Park Ave., was designated a contaminated property late last year under New York State’s Superfund program that categorized the business as a class 2 site that represents a “significant threat to public health and/or the environment,” according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The contamination was unveiled when the owner of a commercial building immediately west of the cleaner conducted a sub-slab and indoor air sampling as part of a property transfer in 2014, the DEC told the Herald. The data that the building owner collected and shared with the DEC revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds, particularly a dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene, which were discovered in soil, shallow groundwater and soil vapor in the vicinity of the dry cleaner’s site.
“My first and only concern right now is cleaning up my property and making sure I’m within proper standards for myself, my employees and my neighbors,” said Gary Hantverk, owner of Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners.
Based on information generated during a subsequent DEC investigation of the site, the department listed Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners on a registry of inactive hazardous waste sites on Nov. 17. The DEC made public the addition of the business to the registry on Dec. 22. The Superfund is the state’s program for identifying, investigating and cleaning up sites “where the disposal of hazardous waste may present a threat to public health and/or the environment,” according to the DEC.
The department expects to launch a wider investigation of the site, which may include neighboring commercial and residential areas, to determine the nature and reach of the contamination, followed by remediation. The dry cleaner is expected to sign an order of consent to launch an additional investigation and to remediate “in the near future,” the DEC said.
Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners, at 180 E. Park Ave., was designated a contaminated property late last year under New York State’s Superfund program that categorized the business as a class 2 site that represents a “significant threat to public health and/or the environment,” according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The contamination was unveiled when the owner of a commercial building immediately west of the cleaner conducted a sub-slab and indoor air sampling as part of a property transfer in 2014, the DEC told the Herald. The data that the building owner collected and shared with the DEC revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds, particularly a dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene, which were discovered in soil, shallow groundwater and soil vapor in the vicinity of the dry cleaner’s site.
“My first and only concern right now is cleaning up my property and making sure I’m within proper standards for myself, my employees and my neighbors,” said Gary Hantverk, owner of Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners.
Based on information generated during a subsequent DEC investigation of the site, the department listed Nu-Clear Dry Cleaners on a registry of inactive hazardous waste sites on Nov. 17. The DEC made public the addition of the business to the registry on Dec. 22. The Superfund is the state’s program for identifying, investigating and cleaning up sites “where the disposal of hazardous waste may present a threat to public health and/or the environment,” according to the DEC.
The department expects to launch a wider investigation of the site, which may include neighboring commercial and residential areas, to determine the nature and reach of the contamination, followed by remediation. The dry cleaner is expected to sign an order of consent to launch an additional investigation and to remediate “in the near future,” the DEC said.
“We’re working on an order of consent, which is how the DEC moves forward with a potentially responsible party, whether it’s a dry cleaner or solid waste facility or any other type of facility,” DEC spokesperson Bill Fonda told the Herald on Tuesday. “And that’s how we move forward to see an environmental resolution we try to come up with.”
Hantverk, whose family has owned Nu-Clear Cleaners for more than 60 years, said he hired an independent environmental consultant that in early December performed an additional investigation, the results of which are expected soon. The DEC monitors the consultant’s testing procedure and the final cleanup of the site.
“The final stage of testing concluded right around Christmastime, and I and the DEC are waiting for the results and I’m hoping after I get those results back, between the DEC and the environmental company I’m using, they’ll tell me how to clean it up once and for all,” Hantverk said.
All of the investigations were performed within the dry cleaning facility and at the sidewalks to the north, east and west of the site, and samples were also collected in the municipal parking lot that abuts the cleaner’s property to the south, according to the DEC.
Inspections are performed at the facility annually, Hantverk said, and DEC’s air resources unit and a third-party inspector inspected the site in 2014 and 2015, Fonda said. Based on DEC standards and enforcement, one non-compliant dry cleaning machine was removed from service and another machine was completely overhauled to meet compliance.
“My last inspection turned up a leak in a cleaning machine, and we promptly fixed that, and then [the inspectors] still came back and there were some readings that determined that it was coming from the soil underneath the machinery somewhere in the store,” Hantverk said.
Hantverk, whose family has owned Nu-Clear Cleaners for more than 60 years, said he hired an independent environmental consultant that in early December performed an additional investigation, the results of which are expected soon. The DEC monitors the consultant’s testing procedure and the final cleanup of the site.
“The final stage of testing concluded right around Christmastime, and I and the DEC are waiting for the results and I’m hoping after I get those results back, between the DEC and the environmental company I’m using, they’ll tell me how to clean it up once and for all,” Hantverk said.
All of the investigations were performed within the dry cleaning facility and at the sidewalks to the north, east and west of the site, and samples were also collected in the municipal parking lot that abuts the cleaner’s property to the south, according to the DEC.
Inspections are performed at the facility annually, Hantverk said, and DEC’s air resources unit and a third-party inspector inspected the site in 2014 and 2015, Fonda said. Based on DEC standards and enforcement, one non-compliant dry cleaning machine was removed from service and another machine was completely overhauled to meet compliance.
“My last inspection turned up a leak in a cleaning machine, and we promptly fixed that, and then [the inspectors] still came back and there were some readings that determined that it was coming from the soil underneath the machinery somewhere in the store,” Hantverk said.
According to a 2014 report from the City of Long Beach’s water department, the public water supply is pumped from eight wells positioned throughout the community that are drilled into the Lloyd Aquifer underneath Long Island, the water quality of which is deemed good to excellent. The DEC said the contamination from the dry cleaning site showed no impact to the water delivered to the city’s customers.
“We must be vigilant to ensure that our natural resources are restored as quickly as possible,” State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), who is a member of the legislative body’s Environmental Conservation Committee, said in a statement. “That our water and soil have been polluted is deeply troubling and I am thankful to the DEC for taking this action to protect our environment and public health.”
About 10 to 15 sites statewide per year are determined to pose a significant threat, the DEC said, and approximately 400 sites are in various stages of remediation on Long Island.
“We must be vigilant to ensure that our natural resources are restored as quickly as possible,” State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), who is a member of the legislative body’s Environmental Conservation Committee, said in a statement. “That our water and soil have been polluted is deeply troubling and I am thankful to the DEC for taking this action to protect our environment and public health.”
About 10 to 15 sites statewide per year are determined to pose a significant threat, the DEC said, and approximately 400 sites are in various stages of remediation on Long Island.
