Closed Thornton Dry Cleaners Continues To Leak Toxic Chemicals Underground
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) - The City of Thornton may pay millions to help clean up toxic chemicals. They were left behind by an now-closed dry cleaners at the Thornton Shopping Center at 88th Avenue and Washington Street.
The dry cleaners are long gone, but chemicals lurk 50-80 feet beneath the surface.
Kathryn Pardikes is one of the local residents who is concerned.
"You can't put those kind of things into the ground and expect that everything's going to be fine," she told CBS4's Rick Sallinger.
The city acknowledges the ground beneath there is contaminated with chlorinated solvents.
"It's pretty high levels in the ground the soil and ground water beneath the site," said Chad Howell the Redevelopment Administrator for Thornton.
Across the street is a day care center, and the area to the east is filled with homes.
"They could have fixed less of a problem then instead of waiting until today," said Michael Miller, who has lived in the area for decades.
The city says it's the responsibility of the current owner of the property to pay for the cleanup.
"Did the owner know about this when he bought it?" Sallinger asked Howell.
"No, he didn't. He took title to the property without doing an environmental assessment," Howell replied.
Now the people who have voiced concern with the hazardous chemicals are wondering if the city will get stuck with part or all of the bill.
"I think the owner of the property ought to pay for that. It's his problem, not the taxpayers," said George Horgen.
The decision on how to deal with the problem may be left to the Thornton City Council if the city is going to pick up some of the cleanup bill.