ABC One Hour Cleaners

Overview

ABC One Hour Cleaners operated as a dry-cleaning business from 1964 to 2005 at 2127 Lejeune Boulevard in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The business improperly disposed of tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a common dry-cleaning solvent, releasing it into soil and groundwater through a septic tank system and by burying it on the property. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 after contamination levels were found to pose unacceptable risk.

The site contains four main contaminants in soil and groundwater: tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, chloroethene (vinyl chloride), and 1,2-dichloroethene. These are all chlorinated solvents. Groundwater contamination extends roughly one mile east of the site.

Cleanup has moved through several phases. An early pump-and-treat system ran from 2000 to 2007 but removed only about 15 percent of contaminants. Soil vapor extraction was later dismantled after Hurricane Irene damage in 2011. By 2015, the EPA determined that soil contamination was feeding the groundwater problem and merged the two cleanup areas into one effort. From late 2023 into 2024, the EPA ran an in-situ thermal remediation (ISTR) system, using heat and steam to vaporize and extract soil contamination. That treatment met its cleanup goals. Residual soil contamination remains above some remedial targets but stays below human health thresholds. The EPA has determined that human exposure is under control and that contaminated groundwater is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Site buildings were demolished, and the area was regraded and resurfaced after the ISTR system was removed in late 2024. The site is restricted to commercial and industrial use only. The method for cleaning up the remaining groundwater contamination will be chosen in a future decision document.

The site reached "sitewide ready for anticipated reuse" status on August 13, 2025, but has not yet been deleted from the NPL. The EPA continues to monitor indoor air in nearby buildings and conducts ongoing community involvement through public notices, public meetings, and resident interviews. Community members can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator, Rosemarie Nelson, or Remedial Project Manager, Susan Kibler, with questions about the site.