MPCA designates former Dison’s Cleaners site for contamination testing

May 6—ROCHESTER — The site of a former Rochester dry cleaning business has been added to the state’s superfund program.

Designated superfund sites are eligible for state and federal money for pollution monitoring and cleanup.

The former Dison’s Cleaners on Broadway Avenue North, now home to the Queen City Center, has been added to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) permanent list of properties for ongoing pollution monitoring and cleanup. The MPCA announced the designation Monday covering the former 210 North Broadway commercial site and adjacent property.

This will allow MPCA to use state and federal funds to continue testing and cleanup efforts.

The affected area includes the city’s transit operations building at 24 East Civic Center Drive.

Contamination from solvents used in cleaning, tetrachlorethylene (PCE or Perc), was found in soil vapors around the former Dison’s Cleaners in 2013. PCE is a clear chlorinated liquid used in industrial metal degreasing and dry cleaning fabrics.

The chemical can, once in the ground, contaminate drinking water and soil vapors can migrate to other nearby buildings.

In 2016, the owners of the business and the center worked with the AMLA to study soil contamination.

Tests showed in 2019 that vapor levels were high enough to require a mitigation system in the source building. The system was installed in 2020. The following year, the MPCA found that the system’s effectiveness had not been fully tested. The agency then asked the owners to perform additional tests. However, the business had already closed its doors. Tasos Psomas, owner of Hollandberry Pannekoeken restaurant, and Bucky Beeman, a Rochester real estate agent, now own the center.

This left no responsible party available or willing to manage the cleanup, according to the MPCA.

The MPCA conducted soil vapor analyzes around the source building in 2021 and from 2024 to 2025 to see if the vapors were entering neighboring buildings. According to the MPCA, the results demonstrate the need for off-site soil vapor surveys to further assess potential risks to adjacent buildings. The area of ​​concern identified by AMLA includes the city’s transit operations building east of the center.

City officials said the decision to place the site on the state’s permanent list of properties — a subset of the state’s superfund sites — was welcome.

“As an affected party, the city appreciates the state’s efforts to combat contamination from the former Dison’s Cleaners and Launderers site,” said Aaron Luckstein, deputy public works director. “The PLP designation advances monitoring and potential cleanup in a fiscally responsible manner that protects public health, the environment and our community.”

According to the MPCA, PCE vapors can rise through soil and buildings through cracks in basements and foundations. Soil vapor levels near the site exceed health values ​​set by the MPCA and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Exposure to trichlorethylene and PCE is linked to elevated risks of certain cancers and other health problems depending on the amount in the air and how long people breathe it. For more information on health hazards and vapor intrusion, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website at www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/hazardous/docs/vihcpinfo.pdf.