Posted on November 13, 2018
The Hudson River is in the beginning stages of another multi-year, multi-million-dollar cleanup project.
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. is investing $40 million into decontaminating the river near its City of Poughkeepsie property and creating a barrier that would prevent further pollution.
The hope, by the time the project is complete in 2020, is to “improve community access to the river,” John Maserjian, spokesperson for Central Hudson, said.
Years before General Electric dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River, leading to years of dredging and cleanup efforts, the City of Poughkeepsie’s waterfront had already been polluted by the waste products of a different facility.
A manufactured gas plant, or MGP, operated from 1911 through the 1950s on North Water Street, producing gas from coal to power local homes and businesses. It was one of hundreds of MGPs throughout the state, which researchers later discovered created the dense and oily byproduct known as coal tar, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Coal tar is responsible for the oily sheen that can sometimes be seen on the river and, according to environmental group Riverkeeper, blankets the river bottom in spawning areas for several species.
MGPs were eventually replaced with natural gas plants. But the damage lingers.
In May, Central Hudson, which now owns the property, began excavating at the former North Water Street plant, digging up coal tar that had become mixed in with sediment. The project involves three phases on land and water.
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John Maserjian, a spokesperon with Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., addresses a crowd of people at the Hudson River Rowing Association on Wednesday evening. Company and state officials discussed a $40 million river cleanup project. (Photo: Jack Howland/Poughkeepsie Journal)
The cleanup encompasses around 13 acres, including waterfront area beneath the Walkway Over the Hudson and Central Hudson’s property near the intersection of North Water Street and Dutchess Avenue.
Central Hudson has worked with the Department of Environmental Conversation to clean up five other mid-Hudson Valley sites since 2002. This site is set to be Central Hudson’s last MGP project, and its largest.
The project is part of the Brownfield remediation program, and the DEC and state Department of Health is taking part.
“The investigation on this site began in 1986… to see and determine what will be needed to properly clean the residues left,” Maserjian said. “Our hope is that the river will be cleaner.”
Source: poughkeepsie journal
