Tag: contamination

Dry Cleaners Find Toxins on Property

Posted on by Jeff Carnahan

Written By Mercedes Rodriguez
As Published in The Herald-Times July 13, 2008

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Steve Arthur, owner of Bloomington Cleaners, recently had his business crawling with tiny backhoes and excavators, with workmen tearing up the concrete, all to remove a dangerous chemical from the property.

Arthur closed up the dry cleaning business he has owned since 1992 the week of June 30, and had 120 tons of soil contaminated by perchloroethylene—known as perc—trucked away. “Part of it was being a good citizen, and part of it is protecting the value of the property,” Arthur said.

The building on West 17th Street has been a dry cleaners for more than 35 years, Arthur said, and years ago some dry cleaning chemicals could have leaked from old machinery or been spilled. Continue reading “Dry Cleaners Find Toxins on Property”

Anatomy of Cleanup

Posted on by Jeff Carnahan

Indianapolis firm helps dry cleaner in Bloomington remove contaminated soil

Written by Mercedes Rodriquez
Published in The Herald-Times July 12, 2008

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Bloomington – About 120 tons of soil were removed from the site of Bloomington Cleaners, a dry cleaning business owned by Steve Arthur, during the week of June 30.

Arthur says though he entered the cleaning business in 1992, his building had housed dry cleaners for more than 35 years. Equipment used in the past more prone to leaks and spills. It was time to clean up, he said. The Indianapolis firm EnviroForensics was brought in to do environmental cleanup, to remove soil under the building and under the parking lot. The soil was found to be contaminated with perchloroethylene, a chemical used in the dry cleaning process. EnviroForensics officials estimate that a job the size of Bloomington Cleaners would costs roughly $500,000. Continue reading “Anatomy of Cleanup”

Conducting Site Characterizations

Posted on by shenshaw

Written by Stephen Henshaw, P.G., President and CEO, EnviroForensics
As Published in Western Cleaner & Launderer.

In past articles, we discussed the difference between Phase I and Phase II investigations.  A Phase I generally refers to a due diligence evaluation that address the past land uses of a property or group of properties.  A Phase II generally includes an initial or preliminary investigation to determine whether or not the soil, soil gas or groundwater beneath the subject site is contaminated with metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons (solvents) or other chemicals of concern, based on the past land uses. Continue reading “Conducting Site Characterizations”

Finding the Money for Environmental Clean-Ups In Yesterday’s Business Records

Posted on by Jeff Carnahan

Written by David A. O’Neill, J.D., Director of Investigations, Enviroforensics and PolicyFind
Published in CleanFacts Issue 2 2008

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Successful dry cleaners keep a clean shop. Yet in recent years, the tidiest of dry cleaners are discovering that their inclination toward older and cleanliness is having a negative impact on their ability to stay in business. Shedding and discarding old business records has long been the way to keep storage areas manageable and office areas functional. However, dry cleaners are finding that certain of the old business records they destroyed are the very documents they now need to keep their doors open.

Continue reading “Finding the Money for Environmental Clean-Ups In Yesterday’s Business Records”

Digging Up Dough For Clean-Ups

Posted on by Jeff Carnahan

National Clothesline Article, June 2002

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In this article, Stephen Henshaw, president of EnviroForensics (Environmental Forensic Investiga-tions), a national environmental engineering firm specializing in remediation for small and medium businesses, including drycleaners, answers question about Insurance Archeology and how it can help drycleaners find money for costly cleanups.

Q. What is insurance archeology, and why is it beneficial for drycleaners?

Insurance archeology is a term used to describe the process of locating and finding historical insurance policies that covered individuals and businesses.

Historical insurance can be a huge benefit to drycleaners as old policies can be used to pay for costs associated with soil and groundwater contamination in-vestigations, legal representation and even the cleanup of contaminated sites. Continue reading “Digging Up Dough For Clean-Ups”