UNITY, Wis. (WSAW – The former Unity gas station has been identified as one the most contaminated areas in the county. It will be cleaned up by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Unity Auto Mart site is contaminated by chlorinated solvents in groundwater. This contamination was a result of the Unity Auto Mart, an ex-gas station/convenience shop, coin-operated laundry room, and dry cleaner. The address is listed by the EPA as 102 North Front St.
Unity Auto Mart began as a gas station in the 1960s. Later, a dry-cleaning company was added and operated from 1979 to 1984. The gas station was closed in 2012. The property is now vacant.
No community deserves to have contaminated sites near where they live, work, play, and go to school. Nearly 2 out of 3 of the sites being proposed or added to the priorities list are in overburdened or underserved communities, said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. EPA is building a better America by taking action to clean up some of the nations most contaminated sites, protect communities health, and return contaminated land to safe and productive reuse for future generations.
The Constitution was established by Congress Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, CERCLA in 1980. Informally, CERCLA is called Superfund. It allows EPA the ability to clean up contaminated areas. It also allows the parties responsible to the contamination to either clean up or reimburse the government.
In 1999, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources identified chlorinated solvents on the property. By 2014, the DNR requested the EPAs assistance when numerous potable private wells in the village of Unity were discovered to be contaminated with tetrachloroethene and its breakdown products.
The contamination plume currently covers approximately 25 acres. Residents living within a 4-mile radius from the Unity Auto Mart facility depend on private groundwater wells to get their water. Residents whose drinking water wells contain PCE and TCE above the standard were offered carbon filters or alternative water supplies by WDNR.
WDNR received assistance from EPA to monitor and determine the extent of contamination. The state of Wisconsin referred it to the EPA for long-term cleanup and extensive investigations.
Click hereYou can read more about clean-up progress.
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