BALLSTON SPA — The state Department of Environmental Conservation will resume clean up efforts Monday at the former Rickett’s Dry Cleaners, a superfund site at 2017-2019 Doubleday Ave. after tests showed more remediation of the site was necessary.
A study of soil, groundwater and soil vapor previously performed for the state by Precision Environmental Services of Ballston Spa indicated that the primary concern on the site is chlorinated volatile organic compounds associated with prior on-site dry-cleaning operations.
The 1.38-acre location is listed as “class 2” in the state Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites, meaning it represents a significant threat to public health or the environment, and action is required.
The property is bordered on the east by Doubleday Avenue (state Route 50), on the north and west by residential properties and Park Street, and on the south by Doubleday Avenue and Park Street.
The company went out of business in 2014. Mayor Frank Rossi said the Rickett family still owns the property but has not paid taxes on it.
While the state had previously done some work at the site, new test samples showed that there were “still at least trace amounts sufficient to go back in and continue doing some of the work at or below the surface,” Rossi said Saturday.
“It’s kind of a rise and repeat scenario,” he added. “Hopefully on this go-around that can get the remainder of what they feel they need to get to make that site re-developable.”
As part of the work, people can expect to hear a drill rig at the site.
“This will be similar to the work conducted during the first and second phase of the Remedial Investigation,” Nicole Henze, an assistant engineer with the DEC, said in an email to Rossi on April 2. “With the drill rig, I would expect some elevated noise levels. Additionally, a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) will be implemented during any ground intrusive work.”
While Rossi is hoping for the best, he said he doesn’t believe the site will be ready for redevelopment for at least a couple years.
The mayor said the property is zoned commercially and having new development there would be a welcoming site for the village.
“It was an eyesore for too long in a lot of ways, especially as things modernized around it,” he said, “and to have a property like that in which you have pretty much self-contained parking and the visibility and everything, it’s going to be a highlight site once it’s ready to go.”