Hudson River Moves Forward 2011 Cleanup by PCB
In 1977 the elevated levels of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Hudson River fish led New York State to close all the commercially viable fisheries on the Hudson.
That signaled the death of a centuries-old fishing industry, and the end of a way of life dating back to the Lenape Indian, which included a deep knowledge of the river and a vested interest in its preservation. The destruction of our fishing industry cost us jobs, knowledge and a reliable source of affordable nutrition for our communities.
Whether the Hudson River will ever support a commercial fishing industry again is a question that will be answered by a future generation. However, the recent news that Phase 2 of the PCB cleanup will move forward in 2011 gives us reason to believe that we will some day safely eat fish from the again. The Hudson RiverEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects PCB levels in fish tissue to drop after Phase 2, predicting a "speedy and dramatic improvement as a result of the dredging."
Compromise for Action
General Electric (GE) announced that it will proceed with the next phase of the cleanup of the Hudson River Superfund site – dredging select PCB-contaminated hot spots. The terms of the cleanup are viewed as a compromise by the coalition of environmental groups that have worked tirelessly for more than three decades to bring about a full cleanup of the PCBs in the Hudson. However, the alternative to this less-than-ideal cleanup agreement was the likely resumption of a long and costly battle with GE in the courts, with the corporate giant trying once again to seek an indefinite cessation of cleanup activities.
General Electric's original agreement with the EPA did not include a binding commitment by GE to participate in Phase 2. Therefore, EPA negotiated a reduced-scope cleanup to try and ensure that GE would "opt in." To their credit, the EPA included representatives from Riverkeeper, Clearwater, Scenic Hudson and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in the negotiations – the coalition that brought about the Superfund designation and the resulting Phase 1 cleanup. This strategy of inclusion and transparency enabled a quick settlement, avoidance of a new round of legal challenges and a minimal delay in cleanup activities. On balance, this is a victory for the EPA, the environmental coalition and the river.
The Cleanup
Phase 1 sediment dredging took place from May through October in 2009. While the volume of contaminated sediment removed from the river exceeded agreed to volume targets, the number of areas dredged fell short. This is because the contaminated sediment was deeper than anticipated, resulting in more time spent on each location. Phase 1 plans included 18 areas for dredging but only 10 were completed.
Phase 2 will include dredging the remaining 8 sites. It will also entail "capping," sealing some contaminated areas with stable materials instead of dredging them. In one of the acknowledged compromises of Phase 2, GE can cap up to 11 percent of the project area, plus rocky and other hard-to-reach areas. It is anticipated that 21 percent of the remaining locations will be capped, not dredged, leaving an unspecified volume of highly PCB-contaminated sediment in the river.
The scope of the entire cleanup covers only 40 miles of the 200-mile Superfund site. This has been a point of contention for some. There is no planned dredging for the lower Hudson, south of the dam at Troy. However, this stretch of the river will benefit from the dramatic reduction in PCBs flowing over the dam.
Phase 2 will commence in the spring of 2011 and is expected to continue into 2016.
PCBs, fish and your health
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) refer to a large family of chemical compounds that are carcinogenic and have been found harmful to humans, fish and wildlife. In 1977 they were banned in the U.S. where they are no longer manufactured.
However, they persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in animal tissue and organs. Humans are exposed to PCBs when they eat PCB-contaminated fish or wildlife. For this reason, the NY State Department of Health advises women of childbearing years, and children under 15, not eat fish from the Hudson River south of the Corinth Dam. All adults and children are advised to eat no fish caught between Troy and Hudson Falls, and limit their consumption of certain species from other sections of the river.
How did this happen?
From approximately 1947 until they were banned in 1977, General Electric discharged an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River from capacitor manufacturing plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edwards, about 50 miles north of Albany. Since that time, an estimated 500 pounds of PCBs annually flow from the contaminated sites, over the dam at Troy, down the Hudson River and into the Atlantic Ocean where they have spread around the world.
In 1983, the EPA classified 200 miles of the Hudson River, from Hudson Falls to the Battery in New York City, a Superfund site. That began a fierce battle between the General Electric Company, EPA, and a coalition of environmental groups lead by the NRDC, Riverkeeper, Clearwater and Scenic Hudson, which lasted more than two decades. GE fought the cleanup of the Hudson, and the Superfund law itself, in the courts and the media. In 2008, the environmentalists and EPA finally prevailed and terms for a Phase 1 cleanup, to be conducted and paid for by GE, were agreed to.
0 comments:
Post a Comment