Democrats back continuation of PCB cleanup

Faso withholds judgment until results of review are released

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and four Democratic members of the House of Representatives are pressing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reverse its findings and declare the PCB cleanup of the Hudson River an unfinished project.

The request was made Tuesday in a letter that contends problems downstream of the primary cleanup site, consisting of a 40-mile area north of the Troy Dam, have become worse.

“The PCBs in the Upper Hudson River are continuing to be transported down river as far as New York harbor and beyond,” they wrote.

“Scientists studying the New York/New Jersey Harbor have called the legacy of PCB contamination an ‘economic ball and chain,’” representatives wrote. “PCB levels in fish in the lower Hudson River are not declining as expected, pointing to the need for investigation of down river contamination and appropriate remedial action. New Yorkers must not be left holding the bag for contamination that will render the Hudson River a Superfund site for generations to come.”

Also signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring; Nita Lowey, Eliot Engel and Paul Tonko.

Environmental Protection Agency officials are now conducting a five-year review process, which comes less than two years after the agency declared General Electric had completed dredging required under a 2002 order. The company has reported removing 310,000 pounds of PCBladen sediment during the dredging period from 2010 to 2015.

General Electric dumped toxic polychlorinated biphenyls into the river from 1947 to 1977. The company fought cleanup efforts and the scope of the project for years and contends the project has exceeded expectations.

“The Hudson River dredging project was a success,” GE spokesman Mark Behan said. “The EPA has said on

General Electric dumped toxic polychlorinated biphenyls into the river from 1947 to 1977. The company fought cleanup efforts and the scope of the project for years and contends the project has exceeded expectations.

multiple occasions that it is protective of human health and the environment, and we believe the five-year report, whenever it’s issued, should reach those conclusions.”

GE and the elected officials disagree on whether data shows the Hudson River has improved during the past 18 months.

“The data that’s been collected ... shows the environmental improvements that EPA forecast,” Behan said. “PCB levels in water have declined significantly and PCB concentrations in fish collected in 2016 show overall declines as well.”

The letter from the elected officials points to state Department of Environmental Conservation contentions that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies were not sufficient to determine the extent of contamination or the amount of cleanup that was needed.

U.S. Rep. John Faso, RKinderhook, who did not sign the letter, said the results of the five-year review need to be released before a call is made for further cleanup.

“The science should dictate what happens here,” said Faso, whose district includes the Hudson River counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Green and Columbia. “Until we have the scientific information, I’m not sure on what basis we could be prejudging that and making a determination in a political realm,” Faso said.