BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE
PO Box 88  ~ Glendale Springs, North Carolina  28629     ~     Phone
(336) 982-2691 ~ Fax  (336) 982-2954 ~ Email:   BREDL@skybest.com www.bredl.org

December 15, 1999

Lisa Taber
NC Division of Waste Management
401 Oberlin Road, Suite 150
Raleigh, NC 27605-1350

Re: 15A NCAC 2S .0101-.0102, .0201-.0202
Minimum Management Practices for Dry Cleaning Solvent Perchloroethylene

Dear Ms. Taber:

Overview

Dry cleaners are the largest source of perchloroethylene emissions in the nation according to the EPA.  Perc can permeate dense materials including concrete and PVC pipe.  The NC Superfund Section estimates that 1,500 dry cleaner sites will be addressed under the Dry Cleaner Solvent Cleanup Act.  The October 1999 report by NC DENR to the Environmental Review Commission states,

"Environmental problems at drycleaners are largely due to historical waste handling practices once considered to be environmentally sound.  [N]ewer sites that have followed current and more stringent disposal procedures have also been found to be contaminated."

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has determined that the proposed rules15A 2S .0101-.0102, .0201-.0202 have severe limitations.  Following is a summary of our major conclusions.

1) The minimum management practices would not protect the environment nor the health of workers or the public. The MMPs: a) do not set a real standard for perc use, b) may be delayed significantly in implementation, and c) are not enforceable.

2) A risk-based approach for contaminated sites cleanups will endanger water quality and human health.

3) Continued use of perchloroethylene is irresponsible.

Our recommendations are:

1) North Carolina should implement the state standard of 1.9x10-1 milligrams/meter3 for perc exposure to workers, customers,  and the general public.

2) North Carolina should adopt a one-in-a-million risk for perchloroethylene site cleanups.

3) Use of perchloroethylene must be phased out as soon as possible and by a date certain.

Dry Cleaning Solvent Health Risks

Women working in dry cleaning facilities have increased menstrual disorders, infertility, and miscarriages.  Male dry cleaning workers experience more hormonal disturbances and sperm abnormalities.  A seven-fold increase in esophageal cancer and a two-fold increase in bladder cancer are reported in dry cleaning workers.

Recent studies done by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health found higher incidence rates of female breast cancer in residential communities where dry cleaning was used once a month.

Perc is identified as "reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen by the EPA. Residents with a perc-contaminated public drinking water supply in Massachusetts had an increased risk of leukemia from two to eight times normal, and the incidence rate increased with exposure levels (Archives of Environmental Health 5:284-292).

Risk-based Approach Threatens Public Health

The draft rules and criteria for the administration of the dry-cleaning solvent cleanup fund under 15A 2S .0100-.0200 authorized  by the Dry Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act of 1997 establish four procedures:
1) minimum management practices for commercial dry cleaning operations;
2) a risk-based approach for remediation of contaminated sites;
3) criteria for assessment, prioritization,  remediation, and closure of contaminated sites; and
4) a schedule for funding of remediation activities.

Although most of the rules now under consideration set minimum management practices (MMPs) for entry into the Dry-Cleaning Solvent Program, the rules also establish a risk-based approach for remediation of sites contaminated by dry-cleaning operations.

The risk-based approach allows contaminated groundwater to remain untreated unless it can be proven that  public health is threatened.  It would set alternative standards for contamination of groundwater above existing maximums.  The risk-based approach turns the North Carolina policy for groundwater quality upside-down.  Existing North Carolina rules for groundwater (15A 2L .0100-.0300) require that their overall high quality be preserved at standards necessary to protect human health.  North Carolina policy states that the best use of groundwater is as a source of drinking water and sets groundwater standards for 88 contaminants as follows:

"They are the maximum allowable concentration resulting from any discharge of contaminants to the land or waters of the state, which may be tolerated without creating a threat to human health or which would otherwise render the groundwater unsuitable for its best intended usage."  [15A 2L .0202]

For the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (perc) the North Carolina groundwater standard is 0.0007 milligrams/liter.  This standard is determined to be a concentration which corresponds to a lifetime cancer risk of one in a million (1x10-6).  The pending implementation of the risk-based approach must preserve the present policy of protecting water for drinking purposes.

Minimum Management Practices Are Not Adequate

The proposed MMP rule sets maximum air emissions at a rate equal to a dry-to-dry cleaning machine with an integrated refrigerated condenser and requires compliance with the EPA NESHAP 40CFR63-M.  The MMP does not state what the maximum concentration is or where this level shall be met.

The National Perchloroethylene Air Emission Standard for Dry Cleaning Facilities (40CFR63-M) is not a true standard.  For example, in August a federal rule was proposed which would extend Clean Air Act Title V permit deferral for Area Sources until 2004.  The existing deferral dates from 1995 and expires on December 19, 1999.  Are more deferrals pending?  Area Sources include both small and large sources of perc emissions including all facilities using dry-to-dry machines using up to 2100 gallons of perc/year and transfer machines installed before September 23, 1993 which use less than 1800 gallons of perc/year.  A similar decade of delay would not be an acceptable basis for minimum management practices.

The MMPs require that no perc waste can be discharged into the land, water, or sewer system. However, they specifically allow the use of air polluting devices such as evaporators and atomizers and only require that dry cleaners keep records of the costs associated with this equipment.  The use of evaporators, atomizers, and other air polluting devices should not be sanctioned by North Carolina.

The North Carolina Toxic Air Pollutant program lists perchloroethylene under carcinogens and sets the acceptable ambient level at 1.9x10-1 milligrams/meter3.  A corresponding level included in the MMP would be a real standard which would not be subject to federal delays and which would make it easier to determine whether a dry-cleaning facility was in compliance with the NC Dry Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Program.

Enforcement is Lacking

The proposed minimum management practices contain no measures to ensure compliance.


Respectfully submitted,



Louis Zeller
percGWcomments15A-2S 15dec99