The Site consists of an active commercial laundry facility and a former dry cleaner, with a tetrachloroethylene (PCE) groundwater plume that has impacted two of the city of Sikeston’s public drinking water wells. The Site was referred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) for a removal action to address risk to public wells and potential vapor intrusion. The EPA entered into an enforcement order with the responsible party for the site, Vestis, and approved an Enforcement Action Memorandum on December 18, 2024, authorizing a removal action at the site. The objective of the removal action will be to prevent the exposure of residential and commercial populations through ingestion and inhalation of PCE and related chemicals present at the Site.
On November 25, 2024, EPA signed an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent with Vestis Services, LLC (Vestis), who is the PRP at the Site, for performance of the removal action that will include 1) mitigation of public drinking water contamination, 2) groundwater contamination delineations, 3) vapor intrusion assessment and mitigation, and 4) implementation of institutional controls.
The city of Sikeston’s public drinking water well #8 (CW-08) has had detections of PCE since quarterly monitoring was required in 2006. PCE levels in Well #8 have exceeded the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level of 5.0 micrograms per liter (ug/L) on two occasions, both in 2009. PCE and related chlorinated breakdown products have been reported in treated water from Water Treatment Plant #3 beginning in October 2021. Well CW-08 was taken out of service in May 2024, and due to a lightning strike is unusable.
As of April, 2025, the city of Sikeston has began identifying and testing replacement well locations. Vestis is in the final stages of completing a Removal Work Plan with EPA that will finalize the planned work at the site, expected to begin the Summer of 2025.
