Crown Cleaners of Watertown, Inc. Carthage, N.Y. Description The 10-acre Crown Cleaners of Watertown, Inc., site is located near Carthage, N.Y. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in 2002. A company known as "Crown Cleaners" operated a laundry and dry cleaning business there starting in the late 1970s.The cleaning machines produced large amounts of wastewater laced with toxic chemicals, which leaked out of the building's basement storage tanks, eventually soaking into the soil. The groundwater and soil directly beneath the site are now contaminated, with the contamination migrating beyond the property to the Black River to the south. Current Site Status and Cleanup Actions to Date • Several New York State investigations were conducted at the site during the 1990s, which resulted in the site being referred to EPA for further evaluation in 2000. • In 2000, EPA conducted a removal action, which included securing the site; removal and disposal of volatile organic-contaminated sludge/debris, sump pit water and soils/spent dry cleaning filters; removal of friable asbestos-containing materials; removal and demolition of an unstable portion of the facility building; and disposal of approximately 5,000 gallons of waste oil. • EPA conducted field investigations at the site from 2004 through 2011, which culminated in the completion of a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) report in December 2011. The results of the Rl identified areas of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)- and arsenic-contaminated soil, five tetracholoroethylene (PCE) source areas and an approximately 350-foot long by 300-foot wide and 145-foot deep PCE plume. • In March 2012, EPA selected a remedy for the site, which includes building decontamination and demolition; excavation of soil contaminated with PAHs, arsenic and PCE; chemical oxidation of contaminated groundwater hot spots; and monitored natural attenuation (MNA) of the contaminated groundwater outside of the hot spot areas. • The building decontamination/demolition and MNA designs were completed in September 2012; it is anticipated that the soil and groundwater remedy designs will be completed in late May and June 2013, respectively. • EPA has determined that all unacceptable human exposure pathways have been eliminated, and therefore, under current conditions, human exposure is under control site wide. Unfunded Action Fiscal Year 2012 work that was not funded involved the building demolition portion of the remedy. Current Funding Status To date, EPA has spent nearly $3 million on response construction at the site. For more information on this site, please read the Crown Cleaners site information on the Region 2 Superfund web site. ------- |