Beacon Street West residents worry about property values amid reports of EPA being on site for follow up air and water testing

LACONIA — The presence of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the Beacon Street West condominium community, where the agency is testing air and groundwater for contamination, has many residents of the 68 units more concerned about their property values than their personal health.

Groundwater samples collected between 1986 and 2007 at the former Allen-Rogers factory detected excessive levels of tetrachloroethene, or PCE or PERC, a manufactured chemical used in the dry-cleaning industry. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) concluded the contamination originated off the site. Since 2007, after Chinburg Builders, Inc. converted the factory buildings on the site to modern housing, the agency has monitored the air quality of units in the larger of the two buildings and in 2009 collected water and soil samples at Henry's Dry Cleaners on nearby Pleasant Street that indicated PCE and other chlorinated volatile organic compounds may have escaped from the site at some undetermined time in the past.

Last year, DES requested the help of the EPA in locating the source and extent of the contamination and last week the agency began sampling groundwater and air quality at Henry's, Beacon Street West and several nearby properties to determine the source, level and extent of PCE contamination in the area.

Tetrachloroethene, or PCE or PERC, is a manufactured chemical widely used by the dry-cleaning industry and also found in household products, including spot removers, water repellents, suede protectors as well as some paints and glues. It is a nonflammable, colorless liquid at room temperature with an odor akin to ether that readily evaporates in the air.

Beacon Streeet West resident Gerald Knight said he was not aware that any of his neighbors have complained of poor air quality of ill effects. But, he continued "there is a very real concern among the owners that if there is something wrong, it will hugely affect our property values in a negative way. That is the general feeling throughout the buildings." He said that a front page article published in the March 25 in New Hampshire Sunday News pictured his community as polluted.

John Regan, a hydrologist with the DES, said that Chinburg Builders installed a mitigation system to ensure the air quality of the units when the factory was converted to condominiums in 2007. The current round of testing at the condominiums, he said, was intended to measure "vapor intrusion," explaining that vapors from PCE and other chemicals in contaminated soil and groundwater can migrate into buildings through cracks in basements and foundations.

Janis Tsang, on-scene coordinator for the EPA, said that apart from investigating "vapor intrusion," she expected testing of soil and groundwater in the vicinity of Henry's Dry Cleaners would enable the agency to locate the source of the contamination and chart a course for addressing it.

Tsang said that at Beacon Street West condominiums, soil and groundwater was tested first and indoor air quality measured afterwards. She said that the groundwater sampling undertaken last week indicated "the screening looks good." This week she said that soil vapor samples are being taken from the space between the foundation and the soil to determine if there is any "vapor instrusion" while other tests will measure the indoor air quality of the residential units.

Tsang anticipated that the report on the testing would be complete within eight to 10 weeks, when it would be shared with residents. She stressed that residents would be provided with confidential reports on their particular units as well as the results of testing conducted in the common areas of the complex.

The health effects of PCE vary with the type of person and length of exposure. Some may experience temporary irritation of the eyes, nose and throat along with headaches, dizziness and nausea from short-term exposure of eight hours or less. Exposure to low levels of the chemical over many years may increase the risk of chronic disease, including cancer. However, numerous studies of people working between nine and 20 years in dry cleaners exposed to normal workplace levels of PCE found mild effects that were difficult to detect.

Following an inspection of Henry's Dry Cleaners last November, John J. Duclos informed Pauline Smith, the owner of the firm, that no violations were found."Maintaining compliance with the hazardous waste rules is a challenging undertaking," his letter continued. "Henry's Dry Cleaners, Inc. demonstrated a high level of achievement and it is obvious that Henry's Dry Cleaners, Inc. takes its hazardous waste management seriously, and is commended for its performance."

Knight said that the eight two-bedroom units in the smaller of the two buildings sold for abut $250,000 apiece while the dozen one-bedroom units sold for about $100,000 each, representing an aggregate value of more than $3-million. "There's a lot at stake in this one building," he said.

"We're sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what they find," Knight said. "I like to think that anything they find will be corrected," he continued, "but, perceptions can take a long time to overcome."