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NPL Site Narrative for Vienna Tetrachloroethene
VIENNA TETRACHLOROETHENE
Vienna, West Virginia
Federal Register Notice: October 22, 1999Conditions at Proposal (April 1999): The Vienna Tetrachloroethene site (also known as the Vienna Cleaners site) is located in a light commercial and residential area of downtown Vienna, Wood County, West Virginia. The city of Vienna lies in a valley along the eastern bank of the Ohio River, and the downtown area is located about 2 miles north of the city limits of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The Vienna Cleaners facility is situated about one block northwest of the Vienna City Hall and is surrounded by private businesses and single family dwellings.
Dry cleaning operations have been ongoing at the Vienna Cleaners facility since the late 1940s. Past practices at the cleaners included pouring waste tetrachloroethene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent, on the ground behind the facility. Spills of PCE from outdoor, above-ground solvent storage tanks have also been reported. Although the quantity of waste PCE disposed at the Vienna Cleaners facility is not known, in 1992, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection classified the Vienna Cleaners facility as a small quantity generator under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), producing 121 kilograms of PCE waste each month.
The dry cleaning solvent, PCE, is the principal contaminant of concern at this site. Based on city, state, EPA, and potentially responsible party sampling data, PCE has been detected at elevated concentrations in surface and subsurface soils at the Vienna Cleaners facility, in ground water beneath the facility, and in the city sewers in the immediate vicinity of the facility.
In 1992, six of Vienna's 12 municipal wells, all located in the immediate vicinity of the Vienna Cleaners facility, were removed from service because of PCE contamination. In 1995, EPA used emergency funds to build two new municipal wells, which were brought on-line in March 1997. All of the nearly 11,000 residents of the city of Vienna, and 14,500 people overall, rely on the city's eight active municipal wells for their water supply. Another 40,500 people are served by the five wells making up the Parkersburg, West Virginia, municipal water supply system. All 13 of these public wells are located within three miles of the Vienna Cleaners facility; two of them are located less than one-half mile away.
A second source of PCE ground water contamination in the immediate area appears to be the Busy Bee Cleaners facility, located about three blocks southwest of the Vienna Cleaners facility. The Busy Bee Cleaners was once operated by the same parties that now own Vienna Cleaners.
Status (October 1999): EPA is considering various alternatives for the site.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.