Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 25, 1993 TAG: 9307210318
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOANNE BALL ARTIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The reasons: the economy and strict government regulations aimed at reducing the emission of harmful chemicals used in dry cleaning.
This month the Environmental Protection Agency is issuing new regulations on the use of dry cleaning's chief cleaning agent, dictating new operating procedures for dry cleaners and in many cases requiring the purchase of equipment that costs from $30,000 to $75,000 per machine.
While some forward-thinking dry cleaners already have purchased state-of-the-art equipment that complies with the upcoming regulations, most have not. The new costs could impose grave hardship on an industry dominated by small-business owners and families with limited means.
According to industry representatives, dry cleaners are reluctant to raise prices to cover the added expenses of new equipment.
"By the end of 1993, close to 15 percent of the dry cleaning industry will disappear," buckling under the weight of indebtedness, said William Seitz, executive director of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association, a national trade organization. "Dry cleaners can't go into hock to make such [capital] improvements."
The chemical causing concern is a chloride compound, perchloroethylene, called "perc," that many in the industry claim is the most effective cleaning agent, but that the government classified as a probable human carcinogen.
A vivid debate is unfolding among those in the $6 billion industry and those who watch over it over how much control is needed and whether the pursuit of clean clothes should possibly jeopardize health or further pollute the environment.
"Our recommendation would be to ask the dry-cleaning industry to give a date by which they can switch over to a cleaner production system," said Hillel Gray, toxics-policy director at the National Environmental Law Center in Boston.
"At some point, the public is going to demand that change comes and will either use other cleaners or buy clothes that don't require dry cleaning," Gray said.
Dry cleaners, for their part, say that environmentalists and others have exaggerated the dangers of perc.
The new rules will necessitate new operating procedures and the purchase of equipment that retains perc emissions and residue and recycles them for further use. The larger dry cleaners have 18 months to comply; the smaller shops have three years.
"If you're a one-store operator - and the majority of dry cleaners are - they have to make a decision on whether they want to play by these new rules," said Charles Anton, owner of Anton's Cleaners, a 50-store chain based in Tewksbury, Mass. Anton said he had invested heavily in the future and in new equipment. "But I wanted a piece of equipment that wouldn't just be right for us for regulations for 1993, but could adapt for regulations of 2003 and 2013 and on," he said.
Environmentalists and the dry cleaners agree that the government should provide funds to the industry in the same way it helped car manufacturers reduce air emissions 20 years ago.
Financial help remains in doubt. But the EPA has coordinated tests of perc alternatives, preliminary results of which appear promising, according to a Greenpeace official.
Ohad Jehassi, an economist with the Design for Environment Program of EPA, understands the value of cooperative relations with dry cleaners to improve air quality and already has provided substantial technical assistance to dry cleaners.
"The reason we care about the dry-cleaning industry is that dry-cleaning establishments are one of the largest users of chemicals which come into direct contact with the public," Jehassi said.
Jodie Siegel, an engineer and industry liaison at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, is busy preaching the word of perc alternatives.
As Seitz says, dry cleaners already have significantly reduced perc use in recent years. "That doesn't mean we can't do better, and we're trying," he said. "But the problem is not going to be solved by putting more dry cleaners out of business."
by CNB