Pilgrim Cleaners Superfund Site

The Pilgrim Cleaners Site is the former location of a commercial dry cleaning facility. In 1989, monitoring wells were installed at an adjacent property east of the site as part of a leaking underground storage tank (LUST) investigation. Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroetheylene (PCE), a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning, was detected in groundwater samples collected from these wells. Based on PCE detections at the leaking underground storage tank (LUST) site, where the investigation was focused on petroleum hydrocarbons, a supplemental investigation was initiated at the Pilgrim Cleaners Site. In 1994, during a limited Phase II followup investigation at the site, PCE was detected in soil at low concentrations and in shallow groundwater at higher concentrations. An investigation was performed in 1997 that included the advancement of 97 direct push borings on-site and off-site, field screening of soil samples for organic vapors, and collection of soil and groundwater samples for analytical testing. While PCE was not detected in the soil at a concentration above the MPCA soil reference value (SRV) for industrial land use, the PCE concentration did exceed the MPCA calculated Tier 2 soil leaching value (SLV) of 0.142 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). In 1998, a subsurface investigation delineated the lateral extent of PCEimpacted groundwater associated with the site.