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EPA Settles Hazardous Waste Cleanup Costs at Site of Former Dry Cleaner in Nelsonia

Release Date: 04/11/2013
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith 215-814-5543, [email protected]

PHILADELPHIA (April 11, 2013) Jay-Cee Cleaners, a former dry cleaning business at 16163 Lankford Highway in Nelsonia, Accomack County, Va., and its former owner John L. Darby, have agreed to reimburse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for costs the agency incurred while responding to the release of hazardous substances once used at the site. Mr. Darby has also agreed to resolve his failure to comply with EPA’s information gathering efforts by paying a penalty.

The dry-cleaning operations used hazardous substances including tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and dichloroethylene which contaminated the soil. EPA undertook a removal action at this site to protect public health and the environment. The removal action included sampling and removing and disposing of contaminated soil between September 2007 and March 2010. EPA’s response costs were $616,351.

Under the proposed consent decree announced today, the owner has agreed to pay EPA
100 percent of the net sale proceeds from the sale of the Jay-Cee Cleaners property, and 50 percent of the net sale proceeds from the sale of an adjacent property behind the Jay-Cee Cleaners site. The settlement will go to EPA’s Superfund so funds will be available for future hazardous waste cleanup efforts.

Jay-Cee Cleaners owned and/or operated on the property from 1957 through 2003.

In addition to achieving our mission of protecting public health and the environment, EPA’s removal actions and hazardous site clean-ups help communities return properties to productive use.