Carcinogen may be in wells.

Byline: ED RUSSO The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - A cancer-causing chemical used in dry cleaning has polluted the soil and groundwater at and near the Mohawk Shopping Center in Springfield, raising concerns that neighboring private wells have been contaminated.

The shopping center owner on Monday disclosed that perchloroethylene, or perc, has spread beyond the shopping center property, and officials are now contacting nearby homeowners with wells to see if they use them for drinking water.

The shopping center is on Mohawk Boulevard, south of Olympic Street.

About 25 private wells have been identified within a half-mile radius of the center, said Doug McKay, managing member of Eugene-based Mc- Kay Investment Co.

The Springfield Utility Board provides residents with water, and McKay said the private wells are probably used for watering yards and other nondrinking purposes. Still, McKay said, his company and public officials will contact residents to make sure.

"We wanted to be upfront and tell people that we are concerned, and allay any fears that they may have," McKay said. "If (residents) are on city water for drinking, there should be no concern."

It is unclear just how far the pollution has spread from the Mohawk retail strip. It is also unclear who will clean it up, when, or how.

McKay said Mohawk tenants need not worry about their health because the center is connected to city water.

Among other properties, McKay Investment owns Oakway Center in Eugene and the Springfield Mall, which is north of the Mohawk Shopping Center.

Perc, a dry-cleaning solvent, leaked into the groundwater from a broken underground drain pipe at a dry cleaners that had operated at the shopping center from 1962 until May 2000, McKay said.

McKay said he did not know when the pollution started. An environmental report detailing the contamination was completed about two weeks ago, McKay said.

Monitoring wells that McKay Investment drilled at the shopping center indicate that perc levels in the groundwater are higher than allowed in public water supplies, McKay said.

The Springfield Utility Board said its public wells near Highway 126 have not been contaminated by the chemical. "We will be testing wells again soon," said SUB's water quality manager, Chuck Davis.

A state Department of Environmental Quality manager said McKay Investment informed his agency of the pollution three days ago and that many questions remain unanswered.

Exposure to perc can cause cancer, said Michael McCann, a DEQ manager, and the chance that it could have polluted private wells in the heart of the city makes the site a high priority for investigation and cleanup.

The revelation is the latest bad news for the Mohawk Shopping Center. Business has declined at the center in recent years, particularly since Waremart Foods closed its grocery store five years ago to occupy a new store in the nearby Springfield Mall.

Remaining tenants include Bi-Mart, hair and nail salons, clothing stores, an insurance agency, a video store, a bingo hall and a few eateries. "We're making it here, but not enough to advertise," said Steven Rakeshaw, owner of Your Spare Closet, a consignment shop.

The pollution was first discovered last year after a California-based real estate investment trust offered to buy the shopping center, McKay said. The investment group determined that the dry cleaners, with an adjoining laundromat, had polluted the groundwater, McKay said, and withdrew its purchase offer.

After learning about problem, McKay Investment asked Howard Molthan, the owner of Spring Villa Cleaners, to stop dry cleaning, McKay said. Molthan later moved Spring Villa Cleaners across Mohawk Boulevard, and continued running his laundromat at Mohawk until February of this year.

Molthan, who has owned the cleaners since 1968, on Monday said he does not know what caused the pollution.

"I didn't dump anything down the drains or flush anything down the drains," he said.

However, Molthan added, rules on the disposal of perc and other dry-cleaning chemicals were much less stringent decades ago than today. Also, he said, the machinery used to handle the chemical was less sophisticated.

"Years ago, a machine could hiccup and put a little solvent down the drain line," he said.

In an effort to determine the extent of the pollution, McKay Investment hired environmental engineers to drill monitoring wells at the shopping center last summer. The dirt from those test wells is being stored in drums in the vacant dry-cleaning shop.

McKay Investment has spent about $100,000 on drilling, testing and environmental reports, McKay said. The firm hopes to get financial help from a state fund intended to clean up polluted dry-cleaning sites, he added.

CAPTION(S):

MATT ANDERSON / The Register-Guard Dozens of drums of contaminated soil are seen through the window of the former Spring Villa Cleaners where they are stored. STEPHANIE BARROW / The Register-Guard