Contaminants found at Cedarhurst dry cleaning site

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced that a 2004 investigation of the former Quick and Clean Cleaners, now Madison Cleaners, on Rockaway Turnpike in Cedarhurst, led to the discovery of chlorinated compounds in the groundwater which does not affect the nearby water supply.

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), used for dry cleaning fabrics, changes in chemical composition overtime to trichloroethene (TCE), then to dichloroethylene (DCE) and finally to vinyl chloride, and were found at 380 Rockaway Turnpike.

New York State Department of Conservation Spokesman Bill Fonda said people are not drinking contaminated groundwater because the area is served by public water supply that obtains water from a different source not affected by the contamination. “Direct contact with contaminants in the soil is unlikely because the majority of the site is covered with buildings and pavement,” he said. “Volatile organic compounds in the groundwater and/or soil may move into overlying buildings and affect indoor air quality. The process is referred to as soil vapor intrusion and the potential exists into the on-site building.”

Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs for Long Island American Water, Lendel Jones, said the company does serve Cedarhurst but does not have a plant in the area so water is pumped to the area from outside facilities.

Peter Constantakes, a spokesman for the New York State Health Department, said information is still being collected regarding contamination at the site. “As site investigations are completed, we will have greater information on the nature and extent of the contamination, the potential for community exposure to site-related contamination, and the need for remediation,” he said. “The area is served by a water supply and is not affected by contamination.”

Marta Gaston, manager at Madison Cleaners for the past two years and an employee for the past seven, said dry cleaning has not taken place onsite for the past six years. “The last thing we cleaned here was shirts and that was with soap and water,” said Gaston, who added that function, was halted last December. “Every time environmental officials have checked the site, everything was up to code.”

A Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study will be conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Department of Health (DOH) to verify the presence of hazardous wastes and determine if there is a threat to public health and the environment after the state reaches an agreement with the responsibly party, Rockaway Turnpike Realty Corporation in Plainview. If negotiations fail, the state will perform the study itself.

“We do not expect the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study to begin, whether by the responsible parties or the state, before summer 2012,” Fonda said. Once that study is completed, the DEC and DOH will hold a public meeting to propose a remedial solution.

To help prevent hazardous waste sites forming from dry cleaners, Fonda said the DEC requires an outside party such as a government agency to submit annual reports regarding the operation of dry cleaners. “These reports detail how fluids (dry cleaning solvents) are handled, odor from machine operations, and other items that document how efficiently and safely dry cleaning operations are taking place,” he said. “In Nassau County, the Nassau County Department of Health also goes into dry cleaners and investigates how the waste is handled and how the equipment is run in these facilities.”