American Drapery Cleaners — 2235-2239 W Roscoe St, Chicago, IL 60618

Remediation Summary & Regulatory Status

Status. The site is CLOSED under two No Further Remediation Letters: a 2018 Site Remediation Program Focused NFR (recorded, approved for residential and/or industrial/commercial use with an operating vapor-mitigation system and sealed-barrier conditions) and a 2021 Leaking UST NFR with no land-use limitations after removal of the last tanks and a soil excavation.

The site and its history. The property at 2235-2239 West Roscoe Street, Chicago (Cook County) is a roughly 0.13-acre parcel that was historically occupied by a dye house as early as 1914 and, most recently, by American Drapery Cleaners & Flameproofing, Inc. (reported 1966-2016). The dry-cleaning operation stored naphtha in a series of underground storage tanks (USTs). The recognized environmental condition running through the file is this historical petroleum/naphtha UST use and the dry-cleaning solvent history.

The first release (1995 LUST). A leaking-UST release was reported in 1995 as Incident No. 952028. Several naphtha USTs were removed or abandoned in 1997, and the Illinois EPA issued a No Further Remediation Letter dated February 13, 1998 establishing remediation objectives under an industrial/commercial land-use limitation and prohibiting use of groundwater as a potable supply. Follow-up institutional-control inspections in 2003 and 2017 found the site consistent with that limitation.

The dry-cleaning vapor concern (2017-2018 SRP). In 2017 the owner enrolled in the voluntary Site Remediation Program to obtain a residential No Further Remediation Letter. The combined site-investigation and remedial-action reports found volatile chemicals in soil gas exceeding the TACO Tier 1 Indoor Air Remediation Objectives at the 2235 building, whose basement has limestone-block walls. The Illinois EPA disapproved the report twice, directing the applicant to address the sub-slab depressurization (SSD) system and submit a Tier 3 indoor-inhalation evaluation. After the Tier 3 evaluation was approved, the Illinois EPA issued a Focused No Further Remediation Letter dated January 18, 2018 approving residential and/or industrial/commercial land use — recorded with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds as Document No. 1062329925.

The second release (2021 LUST). In 2021 a new owner removed the remaining tanks, and a naphtha release was reported as Incident No. 20210399. Removal uncovered three 1,000-gallon and one 600-gallon naphtha USTs. Benzene in one sidewall sample exceeded the Tier 1 objective; roughly 30 cubic yards of impacted soil were over-excavated and disposed at a licensed landfill, the confirmatory sample was non-detect, and the Illinois EPA issued a Leaking UST No Further Remediation Letter dated July 27, 2021 stating there are no land-use limitations.

Institutional and engineering controls. The operative controls are those recorded in the 2018 Focused NFR: no building may be occupied within the mapped Building Control Technology (BCT) Area unless the approved sub-slab depressurization system is operating and maintained; the limestone basement walls and sumps must remain sealed; buildings outside the BCT Area need full concrete slab or basement floors with no sumps; and groundwater beneath the site may not be used as a potable supply. Failure to maintain these controls is grounds for voidance of the NFR.

Document timeline

One dry-cleaning property, three regulatory chapters — a 1995 tank release closed in 1998, a 2017–2018 vapor-intrusion closure that won a residential NFR, and a 2021 tank-removal release closed the same year.

1. 1914-1976 — Dry-cleaning origin

   The property was occupied by a dye house as early as 1914 and later by American Drapery Cleaners & Flameproofing, Inc., which stored naphtha for dry cleaning in underground storage tanks.

2. 1995 — First release

   A leaking-UST release was reported as Incident No. 952028.

3. 1997-1998 — First closure

   Naphtha USTs were removed or abandoned in 1997, and the Illinois EPA issued an NFR Letter (February 13, 1998) under an industrial/commercial land-use limitation.

4. 2003 & 2017 — IC inspections

   Institutional-control inspections found the site consistent with the industrial/commercial land-use limitation.

5. 2017 — SRP enrollment

   The owner enrolled in the Site Remediation Program seeking a residential NFR; soil-gas volatiles exceeded Tier 1 Indoor Air Objectives and the Illinois EPA disapproved the reports twice.

6. Dec 2017 — Vapor remedy

   A sub-slab depressurization system plus sealed limestone walls and sumps were installed for the indoor-inhalation pathway; the Tier 3 evaluation was approved December 13, 2017.

7. Jan 2018 — Recorded closure

   The Focused NFR Letter approved residential and/or industrial/commercial use and was recorded January 23, 2018 as Document No. 1062329925.

8. Apr-Jul 2021 — Second release & closure

   The new owner removed the remaining USTs; impacted soil was excavated, the confirmatory sample was clean, and a LUST NFR with no land-use limitations issued July 27, 2021.

Pre-program historyActive remediation (SRP)Resolved & verified

What they found

What remains on the property

Per the recorded NFR letter:

• No building may be occupied within the mapped Building Control Technology (BCT) Area unless the approved sub-slab depressurization system is operating, and it must be maintained.
• The limestone basement walls and the sumps must remain sealed with the approved sealant.
• Outside the BCT Area, buildings must have a full concrete slab-on-grade or full concrete basement floor and walls, with no sumps.
• Groundwater beneath the site may not be used as a potable water supply.
• Failure to maintain these controls is grounds for voidance of the NFR letter. The 2021 LUST NFR adds no land-use limitations of its own.

How we keep it honest: The 2021 closure report was revised between submittals (excavation volumes and tank counts differ across records), and the review flags it as a revision within the source documents — not an OCR error. Every statement in the report links back to its source document and was checked against the source text in an automated QC pass.