Albuquerque Superfund site gets money to study cleanup options

How contaminated is it? That’s one of the questions the New Mexico Environment Department plans to answer with an initial $2.8 million in funding to investigate the newest Albuquerque Superfund site.

NMED will get the federal funds by November to investigate how to clean up the site of two former dry cleaners, where the soil is contaminated by grease removers. With Environmental Protection Agency oversight, NMED will determine what processes can be used to clean up the Simms Avenue site.

The former Carlisle Village Cleaners location was added to the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List in July, making it eligible for federal dollars and marking it as a priority for cleanup. The pollution potentially affects 257 people.

The first chunk of those federal dollars is on its way, in the form of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act dollars, according to the office of Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. It’s too early to estimate total cleanup cost, but it is expected to be in the millions of dollars, according to NMED spokesman Jorge Estrada.

Heinrich celebrated the funding award Monday. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which he supported, put more dollars toward Superfund sites.

“This site hits close to home for me — it was in my city council district, just a few blocks from where I lived,” Heinrich, a former Albuquerque city councilor, said in a statement. “That’s why I’m proud to welcome $2.8 million to begin investigating and cleaning up the former Carlisle Village Cleaners site.”

Why is it contaminated?

Carlisle Village Cleaners and L&M Laundry and Cleaners operated at the Southeast Albuquerque location from 1953 until 2017, according to an EPA site profile. Those dry cleaners likely used tetrachlorethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), chemicals to remove grease.

Both chemicals are part of an underground gas plume in the area and can be released into the indoor air of homes and businesses. There are 21 single-family homes, 80 ground-floor units in multifamily buildings, 16 commercial structures and two religious institutions that could be affected.

In 2022, the EPA installed air purifiers in Albuquerque properties where the level of PCE was a risk to human health, according to the site profile.

Exposure to high concentrations of PCE can cause dizziness, headache or death, while low-level concentrations can affect mood, memory, attention and vision, according to an EPA fact sheet. Many PCE uses were banned by the EPA in 2024, with a 10-year phaseout for using the chemical in dry cleaning.

Drilling could start soon

NMED plans to start the investigation in November, and it could take two years, or longer, depending on what the agency finds, according to Estrada.

NMED will start by drilling new wells to monitor soil vapor and groundwater, helping define the extent of the contamination. Previously, contamination was found as deep as 250 feet underground.

The agency also plans to test a cleanup technique by seeing if they can extract soil vapor. That will help them decide if the contamination can be safely removed from the ground and treated on the surface.

NMED has begun planning, and on-site drilling could begin as early as November, depending on federal funding, Estrada said in a statement.