Area residents question environmental cleanup of laundry property

Piles of dirt excavated from deep pits beneath the former site of Bardstown Laundry and Dry Cleaning are covered with tarps during a break in the environmental cleanup work Tuesday afternoon. The cleanup work is being conducted by AST Environmental, a company from Ohio.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Filed Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006, 11 p.m. -- Property owners near the site of the former Bardstown Laundry and Dry Cleaners on North Third Street aren't sure they're seeing any substantial cleanup of the contaminated site.

Kenny Simpson, brother of Bardstown City Councilman Bobby Simpson, lives near the laundry site and said earlier today that he has been watching the cleanup progress closely since it began.

Simpson said that from what he's observed, the environmental cleanup company has been excavating deep pits, then shoving the dirt back in the hole. 'They dig down deep until all you can see is the top part of the arm," he said. "They haven't moved the first truckload of dirt out of there," he said.

Simpson said he's been videotaping the cleanup work as it progresses.

The site was substantially contaminated by dry cleaning solvents used on the site by Bardstown Laundry and Dry Cleaning, a business that was active on the site for more than 40 years. According to Simpson, a broken sewer line was at one time said to have responsible for the contamination.

The primary dry cleaning solvent that's been an industry standard for years is percholorethylene, commonly known as "perc." Perc has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a toxic contaminant and a potential carcinogen.

Kenny Simpson said the smell of perc had been strong along the creek that runs behind the laundry site for years. "There have been six people I know of who lived within 100 yards of that place that developed cancer," he said.

Simpson first mentioned the environmental cleanup in a call Tuesday morning to "The Brooks & Ken Show" on WBRT AM 1320. Incumbent city councilman John Royalty was a guest on the show taking calls from voters about city issues.

"Somebody needs to watch what they're doing up there," Simpson told Royalty on the radio show.

Royalty -- who did not know at the time he was talking to Simpson -- pledged to go look at the site and find out what was going on. He encouraged anyone with concerns to bring them to a city council meeting.

He added that he knew from discussions about the cleanup that an underground pumping system, similar to those used at old gas stations, may be employed to remove any contamination that lingers at the site.

It was after the "Brooks & Ken Show" Tuesday that Kenny Simpson stopped briefly to talk with this writer and councilman Royalty in front of the WBRT studios.

Simpson said he only wants to see the site properly cleaned up.

Jack Barnes of Bardstown owns the property with his brother Bill Barnes of Cox's Creek. The buildings on the dry cleaning site were razed recently to allow the environmental cleanup to take place.

Kenny Simpson said he is lobbying for the city -- including his brother -- to more closely monitor the cleanup process to insure that any health threats to nearby residents will be permanently eliminated.