Dry-clean solvent to be phased out

An estimated 40% of the state's dry cleaners already are subject to a 2020 deadline for phasing out perc, passed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in 2003. The agency's regulation also bans relocation of perc facilities within 300 feet of a school but allows the purchase of perc machines until 2020. The tougher state ban on new purchases as of 2008 will apply within the agency's jurisdiction, which includes Los Angeles, said AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood.

Even proponents of a quicker phase-out said they were happy that the air board passed the rule.

"It's an historic day. Perc has never been phased out in a state before, and that is an amazing thing. This is not as green as it should be, but it's greener than it was before," said Peter Sensheiser, director of the Pollution Control Center at Occidental College, who has tested and promoted wet cleaning alternative technology with state and federal grants.

He and several Southern California dry cleaners testified at the hearing that wet cleaning was actually cheaper than dry cleaning with perc in the long run because of sharply reduced electricity bills. They said wet cleaning also eliminated dry-cleaning odors.

More than 90% of dry cleaners in the AQMD's area who have replaced machinery so far have opted for a hydrocarbon alternative, which uses a petroleum derivative in place of perc. But Sensheiser said that hydrocarbons increase smog and greenhouse gas emissions in a state plagued by air pollution, and that wet cleaning would do neither.

Air board member Dr. Henry Gong agreed, and called for a freeze on the purchase and use of machines using hydrocarbons pending further study.

"Otherwise we're going to force dry cleaners through this again and again," he said.

Other industry representatives said hydrocarbon methods clean clothes better, and said wet cleaning required more cleaning ingredients and new equipment. The board did not impose the freeze on purchases.

Several dry cleaners from the northern part of the state testified that being forced to replace perc equipment with any of the costly alternatives, especially too quickly, could bankrupt them.

But in the end, board members said that with an elevated risk of cancer to workers and nearby residents, it was important to get rid of a known toxic air and water contaminant.

Nationally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected a proposal in July to phase out all perc machines, instead phasing them out only at dry cleaners in residential buildings.

The EPA was sued by the Sierra Club, and the case is pending in federal court.

"Tightening the rules for dry cleaners is an important step in the agency's comprehensive strategy to protect public health. EPA remains committed to the phase-out in residential buildings," spokeswoman Jessica Emond said when asked about the lawsuit and the weaker federal regulations.

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janet.wilson@latimes.com