JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Faced with the possibility that decades-old drycleaning fluid may have polluted ground under its original plant here, Nu Yale Cleaners has enlisted the aid of EnviroForensics Inc. to investigate and remove the perchloroethylene (perc) contamination.
The Indiana-based environmental consulting firm is now working with Nu Yale to remediate any possible contamination at the plant site at 2940 Holmans Lane. A cleaning operation has been housed there since the 1970s.
“EnviroForensics started right away to collect and test soil samples from the ground under [the] plant,” says Gary Maloney, president of the drycleaning business that now uses an environmentally friendly process developed by Solvair.
He credited EnviroForensics with helping him find insurance and developing a “sound strategy” for the perc cleanup.
Maloney and his brothers, Michael and Bill, have been involved with Nu Yale since the 1970s, when they purchased the company from their uncle, Wilbur Horlander, who started the family business in 1956.
During the summer of 2013, EnviroForensics excavated contaminated soil inside the Nu Yale building. After excavation, it installed groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate the soil removal’s effect on groundwater quality.
The removal “continues to show a positive effect on groundwater contaminant concentrations,” says Brad Lewis, EnviroForensics’ senior scientist for the Nu Yale project. The remediation is expected to be completed over the next few years.
“In the meantime, Nu Yale’s customers and neighbors can rest assured that the environment in that area of Jeffersonville is already safer,” Lewis says.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has inspected the site and approved EnviroForensics’ cleanup and ongoing water monitoring, the company says.
Nu Yale operates 11 locations—five in Indiana and six in Kentucky—and is the only Kentuckiana dry cleaner affiliated with America’s Best Cleaners.
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