Posted on August 17, 2017
By Stephen Williams, The Daily Gazette
Two environmental groups and the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County will host a public meeting on Aug. 22 in Mechanicville to discuss PCBs in the Hudson River and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s cleanup efforts.
The EPA is taking public comments now, as part of a mandated five-year review of the $1.7 billion dredging project that ended in 2015. Written comments are due by Sept. 1. The meeting is part of an effort to get more people to comment.
The EPA has called the project to remove “hot spots” of polychlorinated biphenyls in the river between Hudson Falls and Troy a success, but Hudson River environmental groups have urged the EPA to require more dredging, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation has said it believes the work to date has failed in its goal of protecting human health and the environment.
Tuesday’s meeting is sponsored by the chamber, Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson. It will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Arts Center on the Hudson, 2 South Main St., Mechanicville.
“Concerns over PCBs in the Hudson have destroyed a once-vibrant commercial fishing industry, hampered operations of marinas, minimized transportation on the Champlain Canal and prevented economic development throughout river communities,” said chamber president Pete Bardunias, whose group represents southern Saratoga County business interests.
The PCBs were discharged into the Hudson from General Electric plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward between 1946 and 1977. The EPA ordered the dredging, which GE paid for, in 2002. The work took place between 2009 and 2015.
As part of the review process, the EPA held public comment meetings in June in Poughkeepsie, in July in Saratoga Springs, and earlier this month in New York City. The public comments will be factored into the review.
EPA project manager Gary Klawinski said at the Saratoga Springs meeting that EPA doesn’t believe additional dredging would have a significant impact on the river’s recovery time.
The EPA’s studies have found it will be 55 years before fish taken from the river will be safe to eat on a regular basis: an amount of time groups like Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper believe is too long and could be shortened with additional work.
People are advised not to eat fish taken from the river because of PCBs, which are a suspected carcinogen.
People can submit written comments to the EPA by writing epahrfo@outlook.com or the EPA Hudson River Field Office, 187 Wolf Road, Suite 303, Albany NY 12205.
Source: The Daily Gazette
