Federal environmental officials have finalized a plan to test and install vapor mitigation systems in roughly 750 Billings buildings affected by perchloroethylene, or PCE, contamination — a significant step in a cleanup effort that has stretched more than three decades.
Origins of the Contamination
The PCE contamination traces back to a dry cleaner that once operated on Central Avenue near 7th Street West. Over time, the chemical seeped into the ground and formed a vapor plume that became trapped beneath the surface. That underground plume has been the focus of a Superfund cleanup effort for more than 30 years.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency described the finalized plan as a milestone in the long-running remediation process. The contamination zone covers a designated area of Billings where all properties in the priority zone will be evaluated and protected.
What the Plan Covers
Under the finalized plan, every home in Area A will receive indoor air sampling to assess whether PCE vapor is currently entering the structure or accumulating beneath the foundation slab. All affected homes will then receive a free vapor intrusion mitigation system at no cost to the homeowner.
EPA project coordinator Layla Landera described the scope of the effort, saying “all homes within Area A will receive indoor air sampling to determine if there’s any risk of vapor intrusion currently in the home or underneath the sub slab, and then all homes will also receive a free vapor intrusion mitigation system.”
The mitigation systems work on a principle similar to radon abatement systems that many Montana homeowners are already familiar with — drawing vapor away from living spaces before it can accumulate indoors. Billings Central Catholic High School received one of these systems several years earlier, making it among the first properties in the area to be addressed.
Landera emphasized that residents should not be alarmed by the pending installations, noting that current indoor air levels are safe. “At this point, residents do not need to be concerned about their indoor air,” she said. Unacceptable PCE levels in the area were remediated two to three years ago.
Residents in the Affected Zone
For homeowners in the affected area, the plan means EPA contractors will be reaching out to schedule testing and, where necessary, system installation. Phil Stalling, who lives in the Heights area, had his home tested by the EPA approximately two months ago — an early indication the agency was already moving forward with the evaluation phase ahead of the formal finalization.
Suzanne Reymer, who has owned her home for 27 years, is among those who will receive a mitigation system as the EPA advances through the affected neighborhood. Residents like Reymer who have lived in the area for decades represent the long-term community exposure the Superfund process is designed to address.
A Decades-Long Remediation
The Billings PCE Superfund site is one of the longer-running cleanup efforts in Montana, with federal involvement spanning more than 30 years. The finalization of this testing and mitigation plan represents a concrete, property-by-property phase of work following the earlier removal of the highest contamination levels.
The broad scope — approximately 750 buildings — underscores the scale of the contamination plume and the number of Billings residents who have lived in proximity to it, in some cases for generations, without a systematic mitigation program in place. With the plan now finalized, homeowners in the priority zone can expect outreach from the EPA as the agency moves through installations.
The development adds to ongoing environmental and economic activity in the Billings region. Yellowstone County remains one of Montana’s most active urban centers, and remediation of long-standing contamination sites is a factor in the area’s broader livability and development outlook.
