BILLINGS — The Environmental Protection Agency has released a finalized plan to prioritize testing and mitigation of a chemical vapor plume in parts of Billings, Montana — a cleanup effort that has been ongoing for more than 30 years.
The plan will focus on approximately 750 buildings in a designated area of the city. The contamination stems from a dry cleaner on Central Avenue near 7th Street West, where perchloroethylene — commonly known as PCE — seeped into the ground and formed a vapor plume now trapped beneath the surface.
Layla Landera, who co-manages the Billings PCE Superfund Site, said all properties in the priority zone will be evaluated and protected.
"All homes within Area A will receive indoor air sampling to determine if there's any risk of vapor intrusion currently in the home or underneath the sub slab, and then all homes will also receive a free vapor intrusion mitigation system," Landera said.
Landera said the vapor intrusion mitigation system works similarly to systems used for radon. She also said any PCE levels that were unacceptable for human health were addressed two to three years ago, and that current vapor levels are safe.
"At this point, residents do not need to be concerned about their indoor air," Landera said.
Billings Central Catholic High School received its mitigation system several years earlier. Homeowners in the affected area can now expect installation of their own systems as the EPA moves forward with the finalized plan.
Phil Stalling lives in the Heights area and said the EPA tested his home just two months ago.
"They said that basically I'm in line with everything that's in the zone that they created as well. Nothing really excessive, you know, from the norm," Stalling said.
Stalling said he feels safe and is confident in how the EPA has handled the cleanup.
"Especially with the abatement they're gonna have and stuff like that. I'm very happy with what I've read about the fix that they're putting in. And from everything that I've researched and read, the abatement being similar to radon," Stalling said.
Suzanne Reymer has lived in her home for 27 years — nearly since the PCE concerns first emerged. She will also receive a mitigation system and said the EPA has been responsive throughout the process.
"They've been very good and very forthcoming about answering questions and giving people contact information if they wanted to contact those people," Reymer said.
Reymer said she has thought about the potential risks but feels the situation is manageable given how she uses her home.
"I think it would be more of a concern if I were using my basement. But yours is unfinished and so, you know, it's like I don't want things seeping in(...) you know and into the house, but you know since nobody's down there on a regular basis. I think it's probably okay," Reymer said.
The EPA is calling the finalized plan a milestone in the Billings PCE Superfund cleanup.
"EPA really wants to advance long-term solutions for the Billings community, and we are using fast gold standard science to ensure that all residents are protected from any unacceptable risk in the area," Landera said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
