Continental Cleaners

Overview

Continental Cleaners sits at 798 NW 62nd Street in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood. It operated as a dry-cleaning facility from 1967 until around 2005. The EPA added it to the Superfund National Priorities List in March 2012. Nearby residents and businesses use the public water system, so drinking water is not directly threatened by the contamination.

The site has 15 confirmed contaminants of concern, found mostly in groundwater, with some in soil and soil gas. The main culprit is tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a dry-cleaning solvent, along with its breakdown products. Other groundwater contaminants include benzene, trichloroethene, vinyl chloride, chloroform, xylenes, and ethylbenzene. Chloroform, tetrachloroethylene, and bromodichloromethane also appear in soil gas. Tetrachloroethylene is found in soil as well. Contamination migrated north from the original property into the surrounding neighborhood.

The EPA selected a cleanup plan in April 2018. For soil, the plan calls for demolishing the building, digging out contaminated material above cleanup levels, and hauling it off-site. For groundwater, the EPA is using Enhanced In-Situ Bioremediation (EISB), which injects hydrogen, iron, and bacteria underground to break down contaminants naturally. The final remedial action started on September 29, 2022. Groundwater cleanup began in June 2025 and is expected to take 20 to 30 days. After that, the EPA will sample quarterly for two years, then semi-annually for years three and four, and annually after that. A 2022 Explanation of Significant Differences also added passive soil depressurization as a backup measure for vapor intrusion and continued indoor air monitoring.

Current EPA assessments find no unacceptable human exposure pathways at the site, and contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water. However, physical construction is not yet complete, and the site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List. Institutional controls, including deed restrictions and zoning rules, remain in place to prevent residential use until the groundwater is fully addressed and the EPA determines the property is safe for unrestricted use.

Community members can stay involved through public notices and public meetings that the EPA holds throughout the cleanup process. Site records are available at the Belafonte Tacolcy Center at 6161 NW 9th Avenue in Miami. The EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator and Remedial Project Manager handle community questions directly.