The Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with General Electric Company (GE) for the company to evaluate the Lower River section of the Hudson River polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Superfund site to determine the best course of action for resolving contamination, according to a Sept. 13 EPA news release.
"New York state is committed to a comprehensive cleanup and restoration of the Hudson River," said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, Basil Seggosr, in a statement. "EPA’s agreement directing GE to undertake additional sampling in the lower Hudson is a critical step to address historic PCB contamination. New York state DEC looks forward to continuing to work with EPA to understand what further actions can be taken to address unacceptable levels of contamination that remain in the river.”
General Electric will create a strategy for thorough water, sediment, and fish sampling between the Troy Dam and the mouth of New York Harbor, the release stated.
Between the 1940’s and 1970’s, GE discharged PCBs into the Hudson River from two former capacitor manufacturing plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, New York, according to the EPA.
"These PCBs contaminated the river and its sediment from the Hudson Falls plant to New York Harbor, and contaminated certain areas of the floodplain along the banks of the river during high water and flood events," the agency said.
The sampling that GE will be conducting in the river, “will allow us to better understand and evaluate the conditions and potential contamination in the Lower Hudson River environment,” said Lisa Garcia, EPA regional administrator. “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.”
