Groundwater Monitoring Continues At Former Brookfield Dry Cleaners Site Following Soil Cleanup

BROOKFIELD, CT — Environmental monitoring is continuing at the former Brookfield Cleaners property at 20 Station Road, where crews have completed major soil remediation but expect groundwater cleanup to take several more years, according to Brookfield Economic Development Specialist Greg Dembowski.

Dembowski said seven groundwater test wells have now been installed at the site, ranging in depth from 12 to more than 300 feet. Samples are being collected at various depths because contaminant concentrations can vary based on how groundwater flows through bedrock fractures.

“It is likely that dry-cleaning solvent contamination will still be detected, especially in the deeper wells,” Dembowski said in an email to Patch. “This is to be expected because remediation of the groundwater plume is not instantaneous.”

The site, once home to Brookfield Cleaners, was identified as a brownfield after decades of contamination from tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or PCE, a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning. In February, the town awarded a $528,000 cleanup contract to Enviro Consultants and Recyclers Inc. of Danbury for soil and groundwater remediation. By November, more than1,300 tons of contaminated soil had been removed, and chemical treatments were applied to neutralize remaining pollutants in the bedrock.

Once redevelopment is complete, technicians will install a final groundwater monitoring network, Dembowski said. Those wells will be sampled periodically—quarterly, semiannually, or annually—until contaminant concentrations fall below the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection cleanup standards.

Between now and April 2026, three additional rounds of groundwater sampling will be conducted. DEEP requires at least four seasonal sampling events after remediation, with all results below cleanup thresholds, before a site can be formally closed. Once those criteria are met, a Final Licensed Environmental Professional Verification Report will be submitted to DEEP to officially close the case.

The cleanup at 20 Station Road marks a major step forward in Brookfield’s long-term plan to redevelop the site into an affordable housing project within the Town Center District—part of a broader initiative to transform former industrial and underused parcels along Station Road into new, sustainable housing and mixed-use spaces.