Posted on June 13, 2017
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending the public comment period until Sept. 1 on its review of the cleanup of toxic contaminants from the upper Hudson River.
In the review, made public last week, the agency said that while PCB levels in Hudson River fish remains high, more dredging doesn’t seem necessary for now. That conclusion drew harsh criticism from New York officials and environmental groups, including Riverkeeper and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
General Electric removed 2.75 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from a 40-mile stretch of the upper Hudson, north of Albany, from 2010 through 2015. Elected officials and environmentalists, though, claim the cleanup is incomplete.
Until the mid-1970s, GE factories discharged more than 1 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls into the upper river. The probable carcinogen, used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment, was banned in 1977.
EPA Acting Regional Administrator Catherine McCabe told news reporters last week that data collected from the river’s fish, water and sediment do not support calls for more dredging.
“At this time, we do not believe that the data, the science or the law support the EPA imposing a requirement on GE to do more dredging,” she said.
General Electric said the review makes clear that “no additional dredging in the Upper or Lower Hudson is recommended” and said it would continue to work closely with the EPA, the state, and local communities for a cleaner river.
U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said last week that “further cleanup is necessary” and that “the proof is in the science.”
“All we are asking for is a cleanup strategy that fixes generations of abuse and the toxic legacy of PCB contamination,” Maloney said.
State Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos said the “significant amount of contamination left in the river threatens both public health and the environment.”
Source: Daily Freeman
