Toxins found at Swan Fay cleaner’s site

Carolyn Oddo Leach and her husband, Eddie, of ESPN Fitness, were in contract to purchase the former home of a dry cleaning business, at 2 Waterford Road in Island Park, to relocate the gym, but an environmental report has led them to pull out of the deal.

“I’m providing this update because we think it’s important for the community to know what the real story is,” Carolyn said. “We have pulled out of the contract due to soil contamination from the dry-cleaner.”

She explained that because the building was used as a dry-cleaner from 1966 to 2011, the Astoria bank, which the Leaches approached about a loan, required a “phase one” real estate report — which determines that there is no contamination of a property from a previous use — and said it would not approve a loan if there were any environmental issue with the property. The Leaches paid for the report, and it stated that the property tested positive for perchloroethylene, or PCE, a chemical used in the dry-cleaning process.

Astoria bank then requested a “phase two” report, which involved digging in the basement and the surrounding soil, and the analysis of the soil, water and air surrounding the site, and perhaps adjacent sites. The owner of the property gave the Leaches permission to do the report — at their expense — but told them he would not be responsible for the cleanup. The property was investigated and the report generated by the Merritt Environmental Consulting Corporation of Hauppauge.

“MECC identified concentrations of PCE and other substances related to breakdown of PCE above applicable regulatory limits in groundwater at the site,” the report stated. “These contaminant concentrations are great enough to establish that an actionable condition exists in connection with a release of PCE to the environment.”

Leach said that she and her husband were willing to pay for the report, but she added that, given the potential expense of cleaning up the property, their attorney had advised them not to buy it. They were allowed out of the contract, but their initial payment of $25,000 was not returned.

After contacting the Environmental Protection Agency, Leach brought the report to the attention of Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty, who contacted the state Department of Environmental Conservation.