This team promoted nontoxic, economically sound alternatives to the use of chlorinated solvents in cleaning industrial parts. Team members connected vendors of the cleaning equipment and alternative water-based chemicals directly to the project’s main target—unregulated small businesses that are not required to record and share emissions data. They hosted three hands-on, state workshops and advertised at the Rosemont CleanTech exposition in May 1998 and 1999.

As a result of this project, the team began work to operate a year-round parts cleaning referral service to connect vendors with customers and to act as a liaison for processing samples of soiled parts to be test-cleaned. This work in identifying and marketing clean technologies to the parts cleaning industry is expected to contribute to reductions in the release of the persistent, toxic organochlorine compounds TCA, DCM, TCE, and PCE, and other chemicals in the Great Lakes basin.