2010 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:55:48 -0800 (PST)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Durham, North Carolina dry cleaners
 
The dirt on dry cleaning

Durham residents concerned about chemical contamination

By Samiha Khanna
Independent Weekly (NC)
Jnauary 20, 2010

Eight hours a week for more than two years, parishioners of the Word of Faith church in Durham flocked to a makeshift sanctuary inside a rented building near downtown and gathered for fellowship, prayer and healing. What the churchgoers did not know at the time, state officials believe, is that while they celebrated and sang in praise, the air they breathed was contaminated with the vapors of a toxic dry cleaning solvent—a probable carcinogen—that had seeped into the ground for years.

Three decades before the church moved to 1103 W. Club Blvd. near Northgate Mall, the building housed a dry cleaning service, One Hour Martinizing, where workers labored over laundry using the chemical tetracholoroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or perc, to expertly clean fine garments. Whether via accidental spills, negligent or unknowing workers or lax regulations on disposal, the solvent soaked into the grounds around the business and contaminated the soil and groundwater.

Now the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has found the chemical also has spread at least 150 feet to homes on adjacent Dollar Avenue in the Trinity Park neighborhood. Vapors from perc in the groundwater have infiltrated at least two houses, and residents are fretting over the potential effects of the contamination on their community, property values and long-term health. Although the state has a 10-year-old program to help test and clean up perc-contaminated properties, its funding is limited and doesn't include help for residents who suffer health problems or financial losses associated with the chemical contamination.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A408860

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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