Only one dry cleaning company in Vermont still uses the cancer-causing chemicals perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). But the chemicals, known as chlorinated solvents, have been found at over 100 sites across the state due to historic contamination. They seep into groundwater and soil, and evaporate at low temperatures, polluting indoor air.
“They can remain in the environment for over 100 years,” said Patricia Coppolino, who manages the contaminated sites program at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
Now, the chemicals will be banned in most cases because of an EPA rule change by the Biden administration late last year, aimed at preventing cancer deaths. The rule mandates a 10-year phaseout for PCE, and a one-year phaseout for TCE, in most cases.
“It's a welcome change for EPA to ban this because of all of the historic contaminant issues,” Coppolino said.
In Vermont, many of those issues come from old dry cleaning businesses, auto shops and large manufacturers, like battery companies, where the chemicals were used as a degreaser.
Chlorinated solvents, PCBs in schools and PFAS is the majority of the work I am overseeing right now.Patricia Coppolino, Department of Environmental Conservation
At one point, there were nearly 20 dry cleaners in Barre City alone.
“It was really because chlorinated solvents were so easy to access and they were cheap, and so this is just an easy way to start up a business and use that chemical,” Coppolino said.
At many of those sites, small amounts of the solvents made it into the environment, and are now a major health concern. Even in small quantities, the chemicals can cause cancer in the liver, kidneys, brain, and blood, and damage the central nervous system and reproductive organs.
The state team is currently working on a project in White River Junction, where pollution from a dry cleaner that operated in the 1970s is contaminating the air inside multiple homes. The state has other active projects in Lyndonville, Burlington, Williston, St. Albans and Bennington.
Clean up can involve removing soil or treating contaminated areas with what’s essentially a large vacuum, to pull out the unwanted molecules. In groundwater, increasing microbial activity can help break down the pollutants. In homes, air treatment systems, similar to radon mitigation, can keep contaminated air away.
“Chlorinated solvents, PCBs in schools and PFAS is the majority of the work I am overseeing right now,” Coppolino said. “They are in the top list.”
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