EPA to dredge Hudson River again

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently stood with local leaders and environmental advocates at Albany City Hall to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take additional action to clean up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) “forever chemicals” in the Hudson River.

PCBs are toxic manmade chemicals that can linger in water and soil for decades. Exposure is associated with a variety of serious health conditions, including cancer.

From 1947 to 1977, General Electric dumped 1.2 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River north of Albany, and despite six years of dredging to clean it up, the concentration of toxic PCBs in the river’s fish and sediment is still elevated.

Gillibrand is calling on the EPA to take additional action to clean up the river and protect the well-being of those in the area.

“Nearly a decade after efforts to get PCBs out of the Hudson ended, it’s clear that the cleanup hasn’t decreased PCB concentrations to target levels,” said Senator Gillibrand. “PCB contamination is still unacceptably high, and it continues to pose a risk to everyone in the area.”

The EPA is currently developing the draft of its third five-year review (FYR) report of the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site to determine whether the dredging remedy is achieving key PCB-reduction targets established in the 2002 Record of Decision.

The full text of Senator Gillibrand’s letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan is available here.