White Swan Cleaners/Sun Cleaners Area Ground Water Contamination

Overview

Two former dry cleaners, White Swan Cleaners and Sun Cleaners, operated in Wall Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey from around 1960 to 1991 and left behind a large plume of contaminated groundwater. The plume stretches eastward from Sea Girt Avenue and Route 35 toward the Atlantic Ocean. The EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 2004 and selected a cleanup remedy in September 2013.

The main contaminants are PCE (perchloroethylene, also called tetrachloroethene), TCE (trichloroethylene, also called trichloroethene), and DCE (dichloroethylene, also called cis-1,2-dichloroethene). These volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in groundwater, soil, and soil gas. Residents in the area drink municipal water from a separate, uncontaminated aquifer. Irrigation wells in the plume area do not pose an increased health risk for non-drinking uses like lawn watering or filling pools, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). However, VOCs can rise through the soil and enter buildings as vapor. Any home or business with vapor levels above health-based standards receives a ventilation system, and air sampling continues as the plume shifts.

Cleanup work is well underway on multiple fronts. Between 2017 and 2018, crews excavated 7,227 tons of contaminated soil from the White Swan Cleaners source area and disposed of it as hazardous waste. A soil vapor extraction and air sparging system at the former Sun Cleaners facility has been running since 2016 and has pulled more than 3,000 pounds of VOCs from the soil. Indoor air has been tested at more than 450 properties, with about 36 buildings receiving ventilation systems. Construction of a groundwater extraction and treatment system began in November 2023 and is expected to finish in June 2025. Once built, that system will run for roughly 30 years. The potentially responsible party has also been ordered to conduct vapor intrusion sampling at approximately 800 additional homes and buildings over the plume.

As of September 2024, the remedial design for the groundwater system is 100 percent complete. Ongoing remedial action under EPA oversight is estimated to continue through September 2025, with final removal activities projected for April through November 2026. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL and construction completion has not yet been achieved. Groundwater migration is not yet stabilized, though human exposure is currently under control through existing protections and active treatment.

Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator. For technical questions, residents can contact the Remedial Project Manager. Site documents are available at the Wall Township Public Library at 2700 Allaire Road, Wall, NJ, and at the EPA Region 2 Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY.