MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) -The state of Vermont has settled with the estate of a Hartford property owner who owned the site of a former dry cleaning business contaminated by dangerous chemicals.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office Monday announced the $2.3 million settlement in the long-running case that dates back to 2010. It involves a property at 7 Union Street that operated as a dry cleaner from around 1977 to 1995 and became contaminated with perchloroethylene and other dangerous chemicals. Richard Daniels bought the property in 1995 and later transferred it to a company he set up to avoid liability for the contamination, according to the AG’s office.
The state in 2006 took steps to remediate for dangerous chemicals that threatened the property and surrounding homes. In 2014 they filed a lawsuit to collect from Daniels and eventually won in court, requiring Daniels to pay for the cleanup. The Vermont Supreme Court later upheld that ruling. Daniels started but did not complete the corrective actions before he died in 2021, clearing the way for the December settlement with his estate.
The state had previously settled for $100,000 with the second owners of the dry cleaning business.