• file photo by Jeremy M. Lange
• Tests have shown this former church, bank and dry cleaning business is contaminated with a toxic dry cleaning solvent.

(UPDATE: This entry has been amended to remove references to 'clean-up' of the site. This public meeting deals only with the demolition of the building and possible future restrictions on the use of the land; The actual clean-up refers to a separate process that requires different public meetings and will come at a later date, a DENR spokeswoman said Tuesday.)

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has scheduled a community meeting next week to discuss the demolition and clean-up of a former dry-cleaning business across from Northgate Mall at 1103 W. Club Blvd.

The former BB&T building and lot, which also temporarily housed a church, is contaminated with perchloroethylene, a widely used dry cleaning solvent. The meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, at Brogden Middle School at 1001 Leon St.

Contamination from the dry-cleaning chemical, which is toxic and linked to cancer, has been found in soil, groundwater and indoor air vapors near the original site and several blocks away in the adjacent Trinity Park neighborhood. (See, "The dirt on dry cleaning," Jan. 20, 2010)

At the public meeting, state officials and contractors are expected to give a summary of the proposed clean-up plans for the West Club Boulevard site, which includes demolishing the building and implementing future restrictions on use of the lot.

According to an announcement about the meeting, the discussion will be limited to clean-up of the site and information about logistics, including health risks related to the demolition of a contaminated building (dry-cleaning contamination, asbestos, etc.), traffic in the area during demolition and clean-up, and how the debris will be disposed.