[CPEO-BIF] Illinois "Dry" cleaners

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Dry cleaners leave a toxic legacy
Despite cleanup effort, chemicals still taint hundreds of Illinois sites

By Michael Hawthorne
Chicago Tribune (IL)
July 26, 2009

For decades, one of the nation's most widely used dry cleaning solvents 
was billed as a marvel of modern chemistry that could safely remove dirt 
and stains from clothing.

Shops sprang up to take advantage of the chemical, perchloroethylene, 
also known as PCE or perc. People became familiar with the sharp odor of 
clothes freshly removed from plastic wrap, a sign that perc was used to 
clean them.

But over the years, with little if any notice to the public, the often 
sloppy use of perchloroethylene has poisoned hundreds of sites in 
Illinois. As scientists linked perc exposure to cancer, liver damage, 
neurological problems and other ailments, regulators found problems in 
virtually every town with a dry cleaner.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has signed off on cleanups 
of about 500 sites since the late 1990s. More than 400 polluted 
locations remain, though few neighbors may know it. Most are in Chicago 
and its suburbs.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-dry-cleaners-pollution-bd26-jul26,0,5184515.story

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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