A potentially harmful chemical recently found at the construction site of a proposed student apartment building poses no threat to future tenants or to the project, according to the property's owner and local officials.

Blue Mountain Harmony LLC, the local developer that owns the property at 320 W. Beaver Ave., is now in the process of removing the dry-cleaning chemical perchloroethylene, commonly called PCE, from the site where Balfurd Cleaners used to stand.

PCE is a colorless volatile liquid that can contaminate ground water and can be hard to keep track of, said Bill Sharpe, a Penn State forest hydrology professor.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dan Spadoni said PCE can harm people, but only those who drink contaminated water can be affected, something that is unlikely if an area's drinking supply does not come from wells.

"No one is using wells in that area, so there is not a concern of contaminated water at this time," Spadoni said.

Max Gill, State College Water Authority executive director, said the closest well is located two or three miles southwest of West Beaver Avenue, in the Thomas-Harter well fields.

Gill said all borough well fields flow opposite the contaminated site, toward Bellefonte. Wells could not be polluted, he added, because the water is not near any of the PCE-contaminated soil.

The new apartment building will use public water and will not need to worry about PCE levels in the drinking water, Gill said.

The PCE was discovered when Brad Karch, Blue Mountain co-owner, hired Blazosky Associates Inc. to perform a "phase one" environmental assessment of the property as a standard procedure after the company purchased the land last winter.

State College Public Works Director Mark Whitfield said a "phase one" environmental evaluates all past activity on a piece of land for a period of time.

"They are usually requested if an activity took place on the property that would be a known hazard, such as an asphalt plant or a dry cleaner," Whitfield said.

Spadoni said two soil samples taken from under a washing facility building near Highland Alley contained PCE levels that exceeded the maximum standard.

One sample contained 2.54 parts per million (ppm) of PCE, Spadoni said. The maximum standard for PCE is 0.50 ppm.

The Department of Environmental Protection sent a violation notice to Blue Mountain Harmony on June 21, Spadoni said. Blazosky Associates must now send a report back to the department by Sept. 16 fully addressing the situation and outlining specific information and a plan of action.

"It's one thing you have to deal with as a property owner," Karch said. "There's a decent chance that somewhere along the way, something could have been spilled [by Balfurd]."

Karch added that Balfurd Cleaners was a "top-notch" facility that went above and beyond Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Balfurd Cleaners' President Bob Fogelsanger refused to comment on the findings.

Karch said the amounts of PCE found will not affect the apartment building. Construction will not be delayed and groundbreaking will occur sometime before the end of the year.

"This is not a major thing, it's a process," Karch said. "Our next plan of action is to do more sampling of the site and take out the contaminated soil."

Holley Dougherty, office manager of GN Associates, said all GN-owned buildings , including The Graduate, 138 S. Atherton St., which is close to the construction site, use public water rather than wells.

Dougherty said she was not concerned with the possibility of PCE affecting the water at The Graduate because of its use of public water.

John Blazosky of Blazosky Associates Inc. did not return repeated phone calls.