HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it has reached a legal agreement with the General Electric Company to investigate the lower portion of the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site for contamination.
Riverkeeper, the nonprofit watchdog group that's been advocating for the Hudson River for decades, was cautiously optimistic. The Ossining-based group has been lobbying the EPA to continue hold GE accountable, saying PCBs it dumped spread all down the 160-mile stretch of the Hudson from Troy to the Battery.
"Families along the Hudson River should be able to safely eat fish caught from the river without fear of health risks posed by PCBs. We are still a long way from that goal," Riverkeeper's President Tracy Brown said. "After years of calling for action from EPA and GE to address PCB contamination in the lower Hudson, we are encouraged that this study is happening and look forward to a meaningful cleanup to follow.”
From 1947 to 1977, GE discharged an estimated 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyl into the Hudson River from its capacitor manufacturing plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. Recognized as a carcinogen in the 70s, PCBs were banned in 1977.
All fishing in the upper Hudson River, and most commercial fishing in the lower Hudson, has been banned since 1976 because of the PCB contamination.
In 1995, New York State officials reopened the Upper Hudson River to sport fishing on a catch-and-release basis only. The mid- and lower regions of the Hudson River are still subject to a sportfish consumption advisory issued in 1975 by the state Department of Health.
The EPA has not committed to further cleanup. SEE: Hudson Still High in PCBs But No More Cleanup, Says EPA
“The sampling that GE is conducting will allow us to better understand and evaluate the conditions and potential contamination in the Lower Hudson River environment,” EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia said in the announcement Tuesday. “The information will help us determine whether and how to prioritize investigations in each portion of the Lower Hudson and how to best address contamination.”
The new data will supplement information collected during EPA's investigation of the Lower Hudson River in the 1990s and the periodic monitoring of Lower Hudson River fish and water by GE under EPA oversight since 2004, EPA officials said.
First, GE will develop a plan for extensive water, sediment, and fish sampling between the Troy Dam and the mouth of the New York Harbor, EPA officials said. The agreement requires data collection to begin in early 2023. GE will pay EPA’s costs to oversee the work.
While polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) will be the focus in the Lower Hudson, other contaminants will be evaluated as well, EPA officials said. The new data is needed to determine from a scientific standpoint the best path forward, in advance of a potential formal set of studies that would be required to develop a plan or plans for cleanup.
GE will sample multiple fish species, sediment and water from various locations throughout the Lower Hudson River. There will be three different sediment sampling programs, each from a different range of depths of the river bottom.
Collecting sediment at various depths and locations allows EPA to better understand where contamination is present and has deposited over time, EPA officials said.
GE will implement two of the three sediment programs in 2023. The third program, which includes the collection of deeper sediment samples, will occur in 2024.
GE remains legally responsible for its PCBs that migrated to this area, EPA officials said. The federal agency is continuing to evaluate whether other parties may also be liable for PCBs, as well as other contamination in the Lower Hudson.
“Investigating the PCB contamination throughout the Hudson – and determining how to address it – is absolutely critical for the health of the river, the life that relies on it, and people around it,” Riverkeeper Senior Attorney Erin Doran said. “We hope this agreement is a first step towards effectively addressing PCB pollution in the Lower Hudson River. We urge the EPA to ensure that the study is comprehensive, that it proceeds without delay, and that it leads to the actions needed to help restore the river back to health.”
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