Cleanup Complete At Former Brookfield Dry Cleaners, Clearing Way For Future Housing

BROOKFIELD, CT — Environmental cleanup work at the former Brookfield Cleaners site at 20 Station Road has been completed after a five-month remediation project, clearing the way for future redevelopment of the long-vacant property.

According to Economic Development Commission Vice Chair Greg Dembowski, contractors from Enviro Consultants and Recyclers Inc. of Danbury removed more than 1,300 tons of contaminated soil from the site. Laboratory tests showed concentrations of tetrachloroethylene — a dry-cleaning solvent — as much as 29,000 times above allowable state limits.

The firm has since applied a chemical treatment to neutralize any remaining traces of contamination in the underlying rock bed. The area will be refilled with clean soil and the project formally closed out by the end of next week, Dembowski said.

The cleanup marks a major milestone in the town’s years-long effort to rehabilitate the site, which once housed Brookfield Cleaners before it was demolished in 2024. The building had been vacant for more than a decade and was identified by state environmental officials as a contaminated brownfield in need of remediation before any new development could proceed.

In February, the Brookfield Board of Selectmen awarded a $528,000 contract to Enviro Consultants and Recyclers for soil and groundwater cleanup. Funding for the project came from a combination of state brownfield grants and town economic development funds.

The property is envisioned as the future site of an affordable housing project located near the Four Corners district. Its remediation is part of a broader push by Brookfield to revitalize underused commercial parcels along Station Road and the surrounding Town Center area.

Town officials said the completion of the cleanup represents both an environmental and economic win, eliminating a long-standing contamination hazard and preparing the land for new, sustainable housing opportunities in the heart of Brookfield.