Environmental Investigations in Dry Cleaning Operations
Contaminant Source Areas - Where to Sample II
This info-letter is the ninth entry of our series on drycleaning operations, their impact on the environment and ensuing hurdles they pose in real estate transactions.
The previous entry can be viewed here.
Service Door
Historically,
solvents have been delivered to the facility and wastes have been
stored and discharged outside the service door of the drycleaning
facility.
If
the drycleaning solvent was delivered to the facility by tank truck,
find out where the solvent delivery truck parks or parked during
deliveries.
If solvents were delivered by tank truck there were likely incidental
spills or discharges associated with the solvent transfer. If the
delivery area is paved with asphalt, sample in areas where the asphalt
is deteriorated or dissolved.
The area outside the service door has also been a favorite discharge
area for contact water and a storage area for spent cartridge filters.
The area outside the service door on the side to which the door opens
is a prime sampling area. If there are several doors at the facility,
the door located nearest the dry cleaning machine/distillation unit was
the most likely waste disposal point.
Stressed vegetation or unpaved areas with no vegetation may be indicators of
waste disposal areas.
(The information in this newsletter has been gleaned from an EPA
sponsored
site http://www.drycleancoalition.org and enhanced with pictures obtained from the Web.)
