Source: http://www.timesunion.com, February 2, 2015
By: Brian Nearing

DEC to monitor hazardous chemicals near Loudon Plaza

An underground plume of dangerous dry-cleaning chemicals from beneath a strip mall is not threatening the nearby Memorial Hospital or an apartment complex, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The DEC is proposing a $1.4 million plan to control and monitor unsafe levels of a dry-cleaning solvent — tetrachloroethene — and byproducts trichloroethene, dichloroethene and vinyl chloride in groundwater and soil at Loudon Plaza, 350 Northern Blvd., according to a DEC notice issued last week.
PCE can damage the kidney and liver and may cause cancer, and TCE is a probable carcinogen.
The former Loudon Dry Cleaners and Kem Cleaners operated at the property from 1954 to 1997. Kem Cleaners converted to “drop-off” service only in 1997, according to DEC. The site was added to the state Superfund pollution cleanup program in 2011.
Several years ago, high levels of PCE and TCE were found in the groundwater on the 3.9-acre site and were detected leaking from the soil, both outdoors and indoors. Sky Four LLC, owner of the property, discovered the pollution while performing a site assessment for a property transaction, according to DEC.
Exposure to PCE likely increases cancer risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Primary effects from chronic, long-term inhalation exposure are neurological, including impaired cognitive and motor neurobehavioral performance, according to the EPA. PCE exposure may also “cause adverse effects in the kidney, liver, immune system and hematologic system, and on development and reproduction.”
Vapor tests from soil in six locations at the strip mall and two off-site properties found high levels of PCE and TCE. DEC is proposing to install a system to draw hazardous vapor from the soil, and, if necessary, install a depressurization system under the building’s foundation to “prevent vapors from migrating into the southern wing of the on-site building.” Chemicals would be injected into the ground beneath the Memorial Hospital parking lot to break down the pollution plume.
Test results for vapor emissions at the nearby Loudon Arms Apartments or the hospital buildings show that “neither mitigation nor further monitoring is warranted,” according to the DEC plan. A public hearing on the proposal will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Ave., Albany.
Under Superfund, the state will pay the expenses of a cleanup project if the polluter will not or cannot pay for it, or cannot be found. A DEC spokesman could not provide information on how the Loudon/Kem cleanup project will be paid for. The site would be monitored for up to 30 years.
DEC is taking comment on the plan through Feb. 28 through Ralph Keating, Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Remediation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7016, or ralph.keating@dec.ny.gov.