The former Stetson Cleaners has been empty for a number of years because of the liability of contamination.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state and federal governments are spending about $175,000 this year to start to find out how much pollution was caused by two local dry cleaning businesses — one in the city and one in Great Barrington.

 

The town of Great Barrington was just awarded $91,000 to conduct more assessments of the Ried Cleaners site on Main Street. Meanwhile, Pittsfield is preparing to use a $83,463 grant for Stetson Cleaners on Federal Street. 

 

Both sites are linked to perchlorate contamination — a chemical that is more difficult to assess because of its mobility.

 

"We don't know in what directions it migrated and how far," said Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Nathaniel Karns.

 

"These will both end up being $200,000 sites just to assess."

 

BRPC used what was left in the Brownfield Assessment Program, which is funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for the Pittsfield site. Officials from the state's MassDevelopment program allocated the funding for Great Barrington's assessment.

 

According to Karns, the Great Barrington site is prime from redevelopment but developers and businesses are avoiding it because of the unknown liability. The hope is that the assessment will detail what the property will need for a cleanup.

 

"There is very active market interest in it but this is an impediment," Karns said. 

 

Ried Cleaners closed in 2006 after more than 50 years in business; the circa-1900 property at 218 Main St. included a Laundromat and was initially listed at about $800,000. It is currently listed at $165,000.

 

BRPC officials say the potential for redevelopment allowed MassDevelopment, an economic development focused program, to award the funds to the project — and thus allowing both sites to be assessed.

 

In Pittsfield, the $83,463 will be spent on conducting the assessments during the demolition of the former Stetson Cleaners, which passed from the Stetson family's hands nearly 20 years ago. The property has been abandoned and perchlorate was found on land more than a block away and traced back to the former dry cleaner. 

 

The mortgage holders won't foreclose on the land because of the liability so the city is planning to take it via tax title and demolish the building to build a parking lot. The building is set to be torn down in December and that's when the assessment work is to be completed.

 

The assessment allocations are only the start of the remediation process.

 

"We are preparing to apply directly to the EPA for additional assessment activities (Phase II) on the site and any potentially impacted sites and prepare the Phase III — selection of remediation action alternatives — if we receive the funds," wrote Permitting Coordinator Nate Joyner in an email on Friday.

 

Tracking down the extent of the contamination is difficult with perchlorates so understanding just how much of the chemical is there and how many parcels it affects is a lengthy process. 

 

The chemical was used in dry cleaning businesses and often disposed of through floor drains. Trenches excavated for underground utility lines allows for the chemical to travel. 

 

But how far? That's what local officials need to find out or else the properties will continue to be vacant and unsellable.

 

"You have to do assessments in a wide area to find out what is going on," Karns said.

 

The Pittsfield site was only determined to be contaminated after the chemical was found at the intersection of First and East Street.

 

Both sites have already gone through a Phase 1 assessment, which identified the source of the contamination. Now environmentalists need to find out how much of the chemical remains and how far it traveled. In the end, the two sites will cost taxpayers nearly a half-million dollars to determine the extent of contamination.

 

"We have two sites and either one could consume every dime we have," said Karns of the brownfield assessment program.