by Jerry Burke
In the plea bargain, announced last week by Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon, the former owner and operator of Millennium Cleaners, Todd Zeidman, pled guilty to one count of fourth-degree endangering public health, safety or the environment, a class A misdemeanor. "We expect him to face a $20,000 fine," said Dillon.
In last month's original indictment, Zeidman faced one count each of third-degree endangering public health, safety or the environment and unlawful discharge of industrial waste to a publicly owned treatment works. Both of the charges were class E felonies under the state's Environmental Conservation Law, punishable by up to four years in prison and fines of up to $100,000. With the plea, Zeidman will likely avoid jail time.
Zeidman, who ran the day-to-day operations of the dry cleaners, was the person responsible for the handling of perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene), also called perc, a chemical solvent that removes dirt and stains from clothing used primarily by dry cleaners.
"The defendant admitted that during the autumn of 2002, he regularly dumped perc into the toilet at his business," said Dillon.
"In Sept. 2002, the County Department of Health referred a complaint to my office alleging that the defendant regularly dumped chemicals into the toilet at Millennium Cleaners," Dillon said. "Our subsequent investigation determined -- from sewer samples obtained by the Department of Public Works and from samples of liquid and sludge obtained, under a search warrant, from the traps in the discharge pipes at the cleaners -- that perc was being illegally discharged into the sewer system."
According to the EPA Web site, perchloroethylene is a clear, colorless, non-flammable liquid with a slightly sweet smell like that of ether. Short-term exposure results in skin and eye irritation and possible drunk-like reactions.
Some environmental studies have suggested that repeated, frequent overexposure to perc over months or years may have long-lasting and possibly permanent effects on the nervous system. The exposure levels at which these effects occur are not yet known.
The symptoms of these long-term effects include fatigue, poor muscle coordination, difficulty in concentrating, loss of short-term memory, and personality changes such as increased anxiety, nervousness and irritability. Liver damage and cancer have been caused by large amounts of perc in lab animals, but the EPA warns that only people who have suffered the short-term effects over a long period are at great risk.
"Discharge of liquid perc into the sewer system is prohibited by county and state laws," added Dillon, "unless prior authorization has been obtained and pretreatment has been performed to neutralize the chemical's harmful effects."
Zeidman will be sentenced on May 28 in District Court. He could not be reached for comment.
