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Introduction
If you're like most Americans, you probably own at least one article
of clothing that bears the label "dryclean only." In fact, the ritual of
dropping off delicate fabrics at the local drycleaning establishment
has become a regular errand for most of us in the past half century.
Rarely, however,  do we give much thought to the potent chemicals
that are used to get the dirt, ketchup, and red wine stains out of our
favorite new sweater. If these chemicals are handled improperly,
through leaks, spills, and improper disposal, they can make their
way into the soil and groundwater beneath the places where we
live, work,  and play. Contamination from drycleaners often is the
result of past industry-accepted  practices rather than the typical
spill or release common with other types of contaminated sites.
Cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater at active and inac-
tive drycleaner sites is an issue facing state governments and dry-
cleaners, alike. Soil and groundwater contamination by drycleaning
solvents is an especially critical  issue in areas where groundwater
serves as the primary drinking water source. In addition, the migra-
tion of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), into indoor air in  homes
and buildings from underlying contamination in soil and groundwa-
ter is a concern.
The State Coalition for the Remediation of Drycleaners (SCRD)
has worked since 1998 to foster collaboration among the states
to improve and ensure the effectiveness of the cleanup of envi-
ronmental  contamination from drycleaner sites. SCRD's work has
been supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (for-
merly the Technology Innovation Office) and the National Ground
Water Association (NGWA), through a cooperative agreement
with EPA.  SCRD is composed of 13 states-Alabama, Connecti-
cut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina,
Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin-that
have enacted formal drycleaner remediation programs. While
these formal programs vary, they generally require fees paid
by drycleaners and/or solvent suppliers, registration or licens-
ing of drycleaners, compliance with applicable federal and state
laws, and  implementation of pollution prevention measures. Five
states-California, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Virgin-
ia-are  active in the remediation of drycleaner sites under other
authorities, such as state Voluntary Cleanup Programs under
Superfund or Brownfields programs, and participate in SCRD as
Represented States.
   "SCRD has helped the Kansas program by providing access to
   technical representatives from other states. We were able to share
   information on assessment and remediation that let us adjust
  field techniques and identify innovative remedial approaches. The
  group projects also forced us to look in depth at some of our reme-
   dial projects, which helped identify key reasons for project success
   and failure that we otherwise may not have noticed."

                                           —Bob Jurgens,
             Kansas Department of Health and the Environment
Over its 10-year history, SCRD has succeeded in drawing atten-
tion to the drycleaner site contamination problem through its
outreach programs, including its popular Internet site, which can
be found atwww.drycleancoalition.org. More importantly, SCRD
has documented and shared technical information about innova-
tive technologies used to clean up drycleaner sites and lessons
learned in applying these technologies with site cleanup manag-
ers across the country. This has served to expand the knowledge
and capacity needed to address drycleaner site contamination
by state and tribal governments and site owners having  to deal
with these issues. In addition, SCRD members have worked with
the drycleaning industry in their respective states to encourage
pollution prevention practices that greatly  reduce the potential
for contamination.

Scope  of the Problem

According to the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute International, there
are approximately 30,000 drycleaners in the United States (Figure 1).
A 2001  SCRD study estimated that as many as 75% of U.S. dryclean-
ing facilities were contaminated.1
Environmental  contamination at a drycleaner site can  occur from
spills and leaks of solvent. The solvent used by over 90% of the
drycleaning industry today is perchloroethylene, or perc (also
known  as tetrachloroethylene or PCE).2 Perc is a dense non-
aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) and is heavier than water. As
such, it can penetrate concrete and can sink through floor cracks.
Perc may pose serious health hazards if exposure is not properly
controlled3. Perc is a listed hazardous substance4 and is classified
as a pollutant in both air5 and water5 regulations. Other chlorinated
solvents used in drycleaning operations include:

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  Figure 1. Sites Covered by a Drycleaner Program
                                       30,000
                      Coalition
                        Sites
National
 Sites
  Source: SCRD Presentation, 2002 State Superfund Managers Symposium,
  August 12, 2002, Scottsdale, AZ
t   Carbon tetrachloride,
>   1,1,1-Trichloroethane,
>   1,2-Trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane, and
>   Trichloroethylene (TCE).
Petroleum solvents used in drycleaning operations include:
>   Naphtha,
>   Benzene,
>   White gasoline,
>   Stoddard solvent,
>   140 flash solvents,  and
>   New, high flash-point synthetic petroleum solvents.
More environmentally friendly types of solvents, such as carbon
dioxide and silicon-based solvent, also have been introduced in
recent years.7
Historically, many drycleaners disposed of wastes containing
solvent by pouring wastewater into sanitary sewers, septic tanks,
storm sewers, and floor drains; throwing spent filters and sludge into
the trash; or dumping wastewater on the ground outside their facili-
ties. In addition to contamination  associated with waste disposal,
solvents have been released to the environment during solvent
delivery, transfer, and storage and through drycleaning equipment
operation and maintenance. These practices have resulted in wide-
spread contamination of soil and groundwater in urban areas and
impacts to drinking water aquifers.7

Types of State Drycleaner
Remediation Programs

While the formal programs in SCRD member-states vary, most
consist of:
>   A fee or tax mechanism that funds drycleaner site cleanup. (For
    example, Alabama, Minnesota, Texas, and other states charge
    annual registration fees; Illinois, Kansas, Oregon, and others
    charge fees on drycleaning solvent; Connecticut, Florida, and
    others collect gross receipts taxes.)8
>   Requirements that facilities or parties must meet to be eligible
    for funding assistance. (For example, among facility require-
    ments under their programs, Missouri requires that abandoned
    facilities must be documented to the Missouri Drycleaning
    Environmental Response Trust (DERT)  program by July  1,
    2009, to be eligible for cleanup under the state's DERT Fund,
    South Carolina, Tennessee, and others  require that there have
    been no reports of gross negligence or violation of laws against
    the facilities)8
>   A method for prioritizing drycleaner sites for funded cleanups.
    (For example, Illnois, Kansas, North  Carolina, and Oregon
    use a numerical score based  on risk to human health and the
    environment to rank sites.)8
>   Regulations for implementing the program, usually  on a state-
    lead or reimbursement basis.  All SCRD  states have regulatory
    authorities associated with their drycleaner cleanup programs.8
                            "SCRD has provided the opportunity to share information, par-
                            ticipate in technical discussions, and observe the progress of other
                            states as their programs mature, providing invaluable lessons for
                            Virginia (which cleans up drycleaner sites through its Volun-
                            tary Remediation Program). VRP has been able to cite parallel
                            issues and lessons from other states in discussions with VRP
                           participants, leading to a better participant understanding of the
                           program and the consistency of it with other states."

                                                                  —Meade Anderson,
                                          Virginia Department of Environmental Quality


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   "SCRD has been a great resource for the Texas Drycleaner
   Remediation Program during the program development phase
   and, more recently, as we have begun to assess and remediate
   sites. SCRD enabled us to better understand other established
   state programs, which we used as models for the devebpment
   of our Registration and Remediation programs."

                                      —Richard Scharlach,
                 Texas Commission on Environmental  Quality
                                                              SCRD Objectives
Major benefits offered to drycleaner participants in these programs
are some level of liability protection and funds for cleaning up their
sites, whether these cleanups are performed by the state or by the
site owners/operators.
State drycleaner programs not only protect the public and provide
a cleaner, safer environment. In addition,  most of these programs
require pollution prevention/best management practices to reduce
or eliminate future releases and provide cost savings for drycleaner
owner/operators without the financial resources needed to clean up
their sites.
  Figure 2. Progress Achieved in Addressing Contamination at
  Drycleaner Sites
      2,000


      1,500
    in
   & 1,000
   CO
       500
Assessment work initiated
Remediation initiated
Closed
               2001
                           2008
          Note: In 2001, there were only 11 SCRD states.
  Source: SCRD Presentation, 2001 International Containment & Remediation
  Technology Conference and Exhibition, June 2001, Orlando, FL
The Coalition's primary objectives are to provide a forum for the ex-
change of information and the discussion of implementation issues
related to established state drycleaner programs; share informa-
tion and lessons learned with states without drycleaner-specific
programs; and encourage the use of innovative technologies in
drycleaner remediation. The  day-to-day work of the Coalition has
been carried out by subgroups addressing two major areas:
>   Program Development/Administration-lncluding general
    administrative issues related to the formal programs in SCRD
    member states, fee/fund solvency issues,  and benefits associ-
    ated with the various programs; and
>   Project Management/Technical Issues-Including issues
    related to the actual cleanup of drycleaner sites and lessons
    learned from these cleanups that can help improve decision-
    making by drycleaner site  managers across the country.

SCRD Accomplishments

The energy and dedication of SCRD's members over its 10-year his-
tory have resulted in a number of important accomplishments. The ex-
ample set by SCRD members has served as a resource for formulat-
ing drycleaner-specific cleanup programs in other states. In addition,
individual SCRD members have provided advice and administrative
and technical information to colleagues over the years in states con-
templating approaches to cleaning up drycleaner sites. For example,
the Texas Drycleaner Environmental Response Program was created
in 2003, and shortly after that, Texas became a SCRD member.
As of May 2008, the formal programs in the 13 SCRD states cu-
mulatively covered a total of  3,663 sites.9 Remediation is currently
being conducted at drycleaner sites in all  SCRD states.  Figure 2
indicates the progress achieved in addressing drycleaner contami-
nation in SCRD states.
Since SCRD's inception, SCRD members have held twice  yearly
meetings, which featured technical training courses as well as pre-
sentations to encourage and facilitate technology transfer among
SCRD members and Represented States. In addition, SCRD mem-
bers have made presentations to national organizations, including
the Association for State and Territorial Solid Waste Management
Officials (ASTSWMO), and the Interstate  Technology Regulatory
Council (ITRC). In addition, they have presented papers at major
national conferences and symposia, including:

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>   Brownfields 2003,
>   the 14th Annual West Coast Conference on Soil, Sediment
    and Water (2004),
>   the 2005 Battelle International In Situ and On-Site Bioreme-
    diation Symposium,
>   University of Massachusetts' 23rd Annual International Confer-
    ence on Soils, Sediments, and Water (2007), and
>   Battelle's Sixth International Conference on Remediation of
    Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds (2008).
These appearances have helped to educate thousands of envi-
ronmental researchers,  remediation consultants and engineers,
and state, tribal, and federal site cleanup professionals about the
drycleaner contamination problem, the variety in state-mandated
programs to clean up drycleaners, and the innovative tech-
nologies being used in drycleaner remediation projects.
A 2007 SCRD study of 114 sites in 15 states for which compa-
rable information was available showed that innovative reme-
dial technologies, including chemical oxidation, bioremediation,
recirculating wells, surfactant/cosolvent flushing, permeable
reactive barriers, and soil mixing using zero-valent iron, have
been used as remedies at contaminated drycleaning sites (see
Figures 3 and 4).10
SCRD has helped state, tribal, and federal site cleanup
professionals advance the state of the art in drycleaner site
remediation by documenting technical information about actual
drycleaner site cleanups and sharing this information via its
Web site. The profiles of 117 drycleaner remediation projects
help site cleanup managers across the country make more
informed decisions related to their sites. Data in each profile
include site name, location, and description of the site; hydrol-
ogy, ground-water,  and  soil contaminants present; remediation
technologies used; results achieved; costs; lessons learned;
and point(s) of contact for further information.
In addition, SCRD members have worked  with the drycleaning
industry in their respective states to encourage pollution preven-
tion practices that greatly reduce the potential for contamination.
SCRD uses its popular Internet site to provide programmatic
and technical information related to drycleaner remediation
to thousands of users. The site typically  receives 10,000 to
11,000 visits each month, and about 25  percent of those who
visit the site come back more than once. Technical and admin-
istrative publications developed by SCRD are regularly posted on
the site. These include:
>   Proceedings of SCRD's semi-annual  meetings, many of which
    include technical training, and regular conference calls;
>   SCRD's twice-yearly subscription newsletter;
>   A searchable on-line database of "Chemicals Used in Drycleaning
    Operations" to help those assessing and remediating contami-
    nated drycleaner sites and regulators responsible for compliance
    inspections at drycleaning facilities;
>   A "Bibliography of Drycleaning Resources" that compiles
    drycleaning- and remediation-related  references from a variety
    of sources;
Figure 3. Soil Remedial Technologies at Drycleaning Sites

Mobile Inj. Treatment Unit it] 1
Zero-valent Iron Mixing' ZI1
Chemical Oxidation IHI3
Passive Venting IH 2
Dual-Phase Extraction IZl 3
Bioremediation I ^^
Multi-Phase Extraction -

Excavation/Removal -

SVE ,

17
10










^144



[58
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Number of Sites
Source; Comparison of Remedial Systems Employed at Drycleaner Sites, State
Coalition for Remediation of Drycleaners, August 2007.

Figure 4. Groundwater Remedial Technologies Employed at Drycleaning Sites

Other ]f| IH4
DPE 1 3
Recirculating Wells

MPE

Air Sparging

Pump & Treat

Bioremediation




H6

19

111








I 1!




)
1 •)

4
m
0 10 15 20 25 30
Number of Sites
Source: Comparison of Remedial Systems Employed at Drycleaner Sites,
State Coalition for Remediation of Drycleaners, August 2007.

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                                       Solid Waste and
                                       Emergency Response
                                       (5203P)
    EPA542-R-08-004
    October 2008
    www.drycleancoalition.org/
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
National Service Center for Environmental Publications
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
             _  "      State Coa Ton for
            i^Remed'at'onolDrvceaners
>   "State Approaches for Drycleaner Remediation Programs" that
    discusses primary components of state-mandated drycleaner
    cleanup programs; and
>   Periodic reports on the use of innovative technologies for
    drycleaner remediation.
In addition, the Web site includes a SCRD-developed virtual tour of
a drycleaning facility and links to health-related sites, each individ-
ual SCRD member' programs, and public and private sector sites
providing information on vapor intrusion, innovative site charac-
terization and cleanup technologies, and the drycleaning process.
Information on drycleaning chemicals and notices of conferences
and events of interest also can be found on the SCRD Web site.

Endnotes

1.   Schmidt, Robin, R. DeZeeuw, L Henning, and D. Trippler.
    June 2001. State Programs to Clean Up Drycleaners. State
    Coalition for Remediation of Drycleaners.
    www. drvcleancoalition.orci/survev/
2.   Drycleaning and Laundry Institute International.
    www.ifi.orQ/industrv/industrv-Drofile.html
    U.S. EPA. 1996. Plain English Guide for Perc Cleaners, EPA
    305-B-96-002. www.epa.Qov/dfe/pubs/Qarment/perc/index.htm
4.   Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (40 CFR 260-268).
5.   Clean Air Act of 1970, National Emission Standards for Haz-
    ardous Air Pollutants (40 CFR Parts 61 and 63).
6.   Safe Drinking Water Act (40 CFR Part 144).
7.   Dukes, Craig, et al. June 2005. Technology Assessment for
    Remediation at Solvent Contaminated Drycleaner Sites.
    www.drvcleancoalition.orQ/download/remediation paper.pdf
8.   State Drycleaner Programs, State Coalition for Drycleaner
    Remediation. http://www.drvcleancoalition.orQ/survev.pdf
9.   State Coalition for Drycleaner Remediation NEWS, June 2008.
    http://www.drvcleancoalition.orQ/download/news0608.pdf
10. Cathcart, Eric F.,  B. Jurgens, and W. Linn. August 2007. Com-
    parison of Remedial Systems Employed at Drycleaner Sites.
    www.drvcleancoalition.orQ/download/site  profile paper.pdf

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