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Kent Cleaners (Lansing, Ingham County)

Kent Cleaners (Lansing, Ingham County)

Disclaimer: Web content may not be routinely updated on this page.

Please contact the Site Lead for the most up-to-date status of this site.

EGLE site lead

Kim Sakowski, SakowskiK@Michigan.gov or 517-582-2219.

Background

The former Kent Cleaners is located at 2911 South Washington Avenue and was a neighborhood dry cleaner that operated from 1958 until 2010.  The site is located in a residential area just south of REO Town in Lansing.

Before the property became a dry cleaner it also had many earlier uses, including a metals product shop and a sash door seller. Legacy uses and historic waste management practices at the businesses left soil and groundwater at the property contaminated with chlorinated compounds, specifically, tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Vapors from the soil and groundwater contamination have migrated off-site into the surrounding neighborhood. PFAS contamination in groundwater was confirmed after finding evidence that the dry cleaner provided Scotchgard and waterproofing services.

Groundwater in the area is encountered at approximately 35-40 feet below ground surface and has an east/southeasterly flow direction. A combined storm/sanitary sewer runs east-west along the south right-of-way of Dunlap Street adjacent to the facility. The Grand River is located approximately 1.5 miles east of the site.

Content posted October 2022.

Kent Cleaners Map

Site map

See an aerial view of the location of the site.

Expand the map

Drinking water

The surrounding area is connected to municipal water.

Anticipated activities

In January 2023, the next semi-annual sampling event to monitor the cleanup that was completed in 2019 at the site will be conducted by EGLE's contractor, HMA.

Historical Timeline

    • On August 31, 2018, in response to discovering information that waterproofing services had been conducted by the dry cleaner, EGLE's contractor, Hamp Mathews & Associates (HMA), sampled four on-site monitoring wells to determine if PFAS could be detected in groundwater.  Three monitoring wells were non-detect for PFAS.  Monitoring well (MW)-1 had detections of 20 ppt PFOA and was non-detect for PFOS.
    • A PCE source soil removal/treatment remedial action was conducted in 2019. Beginning in January 2019, building demolition to reach contaminated soil was completed. Between July and October 2019, approximately 2,500 cubic yards of grossly contaminated soil was excavated and disposed of in a hazardous waste landfill, and 12,500 cubic yards of soil was treated with an in-situ stabilization process made up of a mixture of Klozur SP (a sodium persulfate-based oxidant) and Portland cement.
    • On May 5, 2020, HMA, initiated the first round of semi-annual groundwater sampling to evaluate the effectiveness of the remedy that had been completed on the site.  Samples were collected from MW-1, MW-2 and MW-3.  PFOA was detected at 11 ppt and PFOS was non-detect.
    • On June 19, 2020, HMA, completed the first round of semi-annual groundwater sampling by collecting a sample from MW-4.  PFOA was detected as high as 11 ppt and PFOS was detected as high as 13 ppt.
    • On September 10, 2020, the Kent Cleaners site was presented during the MPART PFAS Regional Informational Webinar for the Lansing District sites.  
    • On January 29, 2021, the semi-annual sampling event to monitor the cleanup that was completed in 2019 was conducted. PFOA was detected as high as 20 ppt, PFOS was non-detect.
    • On July 27, 2021, the semi-annual sampling event to monitor the cleanup that was completed in 2019 was conducted. PFOA was detected as high as 20 ppt, PFOS was non-detect.
    • On June 3, 2022, the semi-annual sampling event to monitor the cleanup that was completed in 2019 was conducted. PFOA was detected as high as 19 ppt, PFOS was non-detect.

    Sampling Results Summary

    Type of Sample

    Date Sampled
    (or range)

    Number of Sample
    Results Received

    Number of Samples
    Above Criteria*
    Groundwater Monitoring Wells Aug 2018 - June 3, 2022 20 8

    * Residential well and groundwater monitoring well results are compared to EGLE Part 201 criteria for 7 PFAS compounds:  PFOS (16 ppt), PFOA (8 ppt), PFNA (6 ppt), PFHxS (51 ppt), PFHxA (400,000 ppt), PFBS (420 ppt), and HFPO-DA (370 ppt).

    Sampling Notes

    • Other PFAS analytes were detected.