DEQ plans cleanup of downtown solvent pollution

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is planning to clean up underground solvent pollution in Whitefish later this year.

An investigation in 2012 revealed tetrachloroethene (PCE) located beneath several buildings downtown. PCE is a solvent often associated with dry cleaning and may affect indoor air quality. The solvent was found at elevated levels at the former Martin’s Cleaners building at 239 Baker Ave., which is now the Whitefish Liquor Store, and the former Anderson Cleaners Building at 306 East Second St., which is now Second Street Pizza.

In May, Trihydro Corporation, a contractor for DEQ, probed below the asphalt around those locations in an effort to estimate the extent of the plume.

“The investigation confirmed solvents in the subsurface soils and groundwater east and south of the former Martin’s Cleaners building, as well as in the subsurface near Lupfer avenue, just north of Second Street,” said Syris Trahan, Project Officer with the DEQ.

The planned cleanup will focus on the former Martin’s Cleaners building since it showed the largest amount of contamination causing problems with groundwater and indoor air, added Trahan.

The remedial plan includes installing a vapor extraction system below the street.

According to Trahan, the system will remove contaminated vapors through a series of carbon filters before being discharged into the air. DEQ plans to install the SVE system this fall.

The state Legislature in 2015 provided limited funding to DEQ to perform such cleanups at a variety of sites. The funding came from the orphan share account, which is designed for remedial actions to address risks to human health or the environment at sites where there is no readily apparent financially viable liable person. The funding is being provided to DEQ on a one-time basis.