Second Phase of Historic Hudson River Cleanup Underway (NY)
(Glens Falls, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the dredging of
sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has
resumed in the Upper Hudson River, marking the start of the second
and final phase of the Hudson River cleanup. The historic dredging
project targets approximately 2.4 million cubic yards of
PCB-contaminated sediment from a forty- mile section of the Upper
Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, NY. PCBs are potentially
cancer-causing in people and build up in the fat of fish and
mammals, increasing in concentration as they move up the food
chain. The primary risk to humans is the accumulation of PCBs in
the body from eating contaminated fish. General Electric (GE) is
conducting the cleanup work with EPA oversight, under an agreement
with the Agency. This final phase of the cleanup project is
expected to take five to seven years to complete.
During the 2011 dredging season, mechanical
dredges will collect buckets of PCB-contaminated sediment from a
1.5-mile stretch of river just south of the town of Fort Edward.
Four to six dredges will work 24 hours a day, six days a week
through the summer and fall to remove approximately 350,000 cubic
yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from 100 acres of river bottom.
Dredging will begin in the western channel of Roger’s Island
and move south in the main stem of the river.
Between 1947 and 1977, an estimated 1.3 million
pounds of PCBs were discharged into the river from two GE capacitor
manufacturing plants located in Fort Edward and Hudson
Falls.
Information about the Hudson River PCBs
Superfund site can be found at https://www.epa.gov/hudsonriverpcbs.
People seeking general information about the
project are encouraged to contact Larisa Romanowski at (518)
747-4389;
[email protected]. Residents who have questions or concerns related to
dredging operations should call GE’s 24-hour dredging
information phone line at (518) 792-4087, or, toll-free (888)
596-3655.
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