The EPA is addressing threats from abandoned containers of
chemicals and equipment found at the Former Patrick’s Dry Cleaner site located
at 500 Hawley Avenue in Syracuse, New York. The cleanup work will begin in fall 2025 and is expected to take approximately six months. The cleanup actions
will include:
- Taking
apart dry-cleaning equipment, removing dry-cleaning fluids, filters and
debris from the dry-cleaning system and decontaminating the
unit.
- Sampling
the abandoned containers and other dry-cleaning materials to determine
their contents and chemical concentrations.
- Preparing
and transporting the waste offsite for treatment, recycling or
disposal.
Background:
The Former Patrick's Dry Cleaner site is located within the
northern portion of the City of Syracuse, New York, and was a former gas
station and dry cleaners. It was developed in the 1890s as a residential
structure and later became an auto repair and gas station. It then began a
dry-cleaning operation in the 1950s and continued to operate as a dry-cleaning
facility until the 2000s.
After a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, the Greater
Syracuse Land Bank requested a Targeted Brownfield Assessment, or TBA, from the
EPA Region 2 Brownfields section in March 2022. The Brownfields Section
approved the request for a Phase II TBA. Between December 2022 and March 2023,
the EPA’s Brownfields Section contractor performed site investigations and
collected environmental data. The initial assessment found contaminants in soil
and groundwater samples collected inside and outside of the building.
The EPA Region 2 Brownfields Section referred the site to
the Superfund & Emergency Management Division, or SEMD, in 2023 for further
assessment. The Removal Action Branch in SEMD collected sub-slab soil gas samples
and outdoor soil gas samples in June 2023. The sampling showed elevated levels
of perchloroethylene, or PCE, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, in the sub-slab
soil gas.
The EPA conducted field screening and hazard categorization
in September 2023 which identified containers with materials that are
flammable, corrosive, peroxide-containing, and inorganic chloride-containing
materials. The EPA also observed large amounts of suspected asbestos-containing
pipe wrap insulation in poor condition on overhead piping and on the ground
throughout the operational area of the facility.
The EPA collected waste liquid and solid samples from the
dry-cleaning machine and other miscellaneous containers in May 2024. The
results of the sampling showed detections of volatile organic compounds,
semivolatile organic compounds, a polychlorobiphenyl (Aroclor 1254), a metal
(Selenium), flammable material, and extractable organic halogens.
The EPA determined that these hazardous substances pose a
significant public health risk for direct contact and the potential for a
release to the environment. The EPA signed an action memo in May 2025 to
address the abandoned containers of chemicals and dry-cleaning equipment at the
site. The EPA is not addressing the asbestos inside the building as part
of the upcoming cleanup work.
For more information: November 2025 Community Update - EPA Begins Cleanup Action at Former Patrick's Dry Cleaner Site
