Drycleaning Operations & Their Impact on the Environment
 
The problem is huge.
The traditional chemicals used in drycleaning contain carcinogenic elements. Their physical characteristics enable them to infiltrate concrete slabs and underlying soil with ease and reach groundwater fast. Few ounces of drycleaning solvent reaching groundwater could present a cleanup cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
 
In a 2004 Dry Cleaner Symposium sponsored by the Groundwater Resources Association (GRA) of California, a representative of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality explained the challenges of funding dry cleaner remediation. The average resale value of dry cleaners was about $130K, while the average cost to cleanup dry cleaner releases was $200K. It was estimated that there were about 2,800 active dry cleaners in the United States requiring remediation, and the number of inactive cleaners was four times as great.
Most drycleaning operators have been unable to afford the cost of the cleanup, a typical problem not unlike that of petroleum leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs).
The crucial difference is that in the petroleum LUST case, states across the U.S. established funds to assist owners and operators to pay for the cleanup. In California, the UST Cleanup Fund backs up such cleanups up to $1.5MM per case. However, in the case of drycleaning, only eleven states established funding programs for the cleanup, but on a much lesser scale. California is not in this program.
US EPA (http://www.drycleancoalition.org) informs us that there are approximately 36,000 active drycleaning facilities in the United States. This number includes commercial, industrial and coin-operated facilities.
Soil and groundwater contaminated by drycleaning solvent are associated with most of these facilities. One recent study estimates that 75% of these facilities are contaminated.
In addition to the active drycleaning facilities, there are an unknown number of former drycleaning sites that are also contaminated.
Since drycleaning facilities are located in urban areas, drycleaning solvent contamination has impacted a large number of public water supply wells and threatens many other wellfields.
To address this problem, 11 states have developed drycleaning solvent cleanup programs.
The State Coalition for Remediation of Drycleaners (http://www.drycleancoalition.org) was established in 1998, with support from the U.S. EPA Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation.
It is comprised of representatives of states with established drycleaner remediation programs.
Currently the member states are Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Associate members, currently Louisiana, are states considering establishing formal drycleaner remediation programs.
In addition, participation in SCRD as "Represented States" is open to states without drycleaner-specific programs, but active in the remediation of drycleaner sites under other authorities. California and New York currently are SCRD "Represented States."
The Coalition's primary objectives are to provide a forum for the exchange of information and the discussion of implementation issues related to established state drycleaner programs; share information and lessons learned with states without drycleaner-specific programs; and encourage the use of innovative technologies in drycleaner remediation.
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