The Downtown Wells White Cleaners site is a former dry cleaning facility that operated in the 1950s and was renovated into an apartment building with 12 units known as Wilson Avenue Suites. The White Cleaners site is one of five former dry cleaners in downtown Jefferson, Iowa that have been investigated as potential source(s) for cis-1,2-DCE contamination in the public drinking water wells of Jefferson. The larger investigation into the drinking water well contamination was conducted under the Downtown Wells site.
In November 2023, the EPA conducted removal
site evaluation field sampling activities at
the Wilson Avenue Suites Apartments. The results of the vapor intrusion sampling
documented levels of tetrachlorethylene (PCE) above health-based standards in
the indoor air and sub-slab vapor of one apartment of the Wilson Avenue Suites. Soil vapor sampling documented a source area below and around the perimeter of the building. The emergency removal action included providing the apartment tenants a
portable air purifying unit to reduce PCE levels for a short time until the property owner installed a vapor mitigation system on the building in February 2024. The action also includes an Environmental Covenant for the property to ensure the vapor mitigation system is operated in perpetuity to protect human health.
