A Rockland landlord is demanding that a former dry cleaning tenant cover the costs of cleaning up hazardous substances.
Red’s Crib accused American Two Cleaners and owner Angel Richard Arguello of contaminating the building at 43-45 Lafayette Ave., Suffern, in a complaint filed on Aug. 29 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
American Two Cleaners “acted unreasonably and negligently in causing the releases and the contamination,” the complaint states, “or failing to take reasonable precautions to avoid the releases and the contamination.”
Efforts to contact Arguello, of Monsey, for his side of the story were unsuccessful.
Cynthia L. Gray bought the small, one-story concrete block structure at Lafayette and Chestnut streets in October 2019, for $380,000, then transferred ownership to her business, Red’s Crib.
From the 1950s to mid-1990s, an unknown dry cleaning business operated at the site, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation records. From the late 1990s to May 2020, Arguello operated American Two Cleaners.
Shortly after the business closed, the complaint states, Gray detected an odor emanating from the basement. An environmental services firm concluded that soil vapors and indoor air contained concentrations of contaminants from a solvent used in the dry cleaning process.
Gray applied to the state Brownfield Cleanup Program and agreed to determine the scope of the problem.
An environmental consultant verified the presence of contamination in soil and air vapors that could be attributable to former dry cleaning operations. Samples of the ground water, that flows to the Ramapo River, did not show elevated levels of contaminants.
The problem was strictly in the basement, according to the complaint, and affected only the indoor air and soil.
The environmental consultant recommended a remediation plan: Remove the basement concrete slab, dig up and dispose 20 to 40 cubic yards of soil, install plastic sheeting, fill the hole with clean materials, install a vapor barrier, replace the concrete slab, and more.
The project cost Red’s Crib $100,000, the complaint states. Now Gray wants Arguello and his former business to cover the costs of the investigation and remediation.
The complaint holds Arguello and American Two Cleaners responsible under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and under the state Environmental Conservation Law. It accuses the dry cleaners of creating a nuisance, breach of lease, and negligence, and it is demanding restitution.
“It would be against equity and good conscience,” the complaint states, “to permit defendants to pass the burden of cleaning up the contamination to Red.”
Red’s Crib is represented by White Plains attorney Ronald Steinvurzel.
