Billings Buildings Tested for Chemical Vapors

Owners and occupants of Billings properties may be contacted as the EPA tests indoor air for chemicals from a former dry cleaner site.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Home Cleaning

Billings Buildings Tested for Chemical Vapors

Live Poll

Do you trust local and federal officials to protect your community from underground chemical contamination?

The EPA is testing air inside buildings across Billings for PCE and TCE vapors that originate from a Superfund contamination site at 715 Central Ave., a former dry cleaner. Hundreds of private and commercial properties are being tested one by one.

Why it matters

Chlorinated solvents can vaporize from contaminated groundwater and move into buildings, so indoor air can be affected even where nothing is visible or smelled. Testing lets the EPA separate the mere presence of these chemicals from levels that pose health concerns, which determines whether a property needs mitigation.

EPA is testing hundreds of private and commercial properties across Billings for PCE and TCE vapors. The testing equipment can detect these chemicals at part-per-trillion levels, well below EPA health benchmarks.

The players

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The federal agency that oversees Superfund cleanups and protects homes and businesses from hazardous chemical exposure.

The details

EPA crews pull air samples from inside buildings and analyze them in real time, testing one property at a time. Chlorinated solvents like PCE and TCE can vaporize and travel through preferential pathways such as utility lines and gravel beds into indoor spaces. Where vapors need to be controlled, mitigation systems can be installed, and some buildings may be automatically eligible for a sub-slab vapor extraction system depending on their location within the site.

About two decades ago, the EPA dug 3,600 tons of contaminated dirt at 715 Central Ave.
On November 6, 2026, the EPA continued air testing of Billings buildings for PCE and TCE.

The Home Front

Vapor intrusion from Superfund sites under CERCLA is one of the ways legacy contamination reaches the homes built above it. Billings residents are now seeing that legacy contamination reach the air inside their own properties, two decades after the original dirt removal.

If you own or rent a building in Billings, check whether the EPA has contacted your property about air testing and keep any notices on file. If testing finds vapors above benchmarks, a licensed professional can assess whether a sub-slab vapor extraction mitigation system is appropriate for your building.

The takeaway

Vapor intrusion can affect indoor air without any visible sign, so ask the EPA or your property manager whether your building has been tested. Keep records of any testing results and mitigation work for your home files.