By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-938790.mp3
Albany, NY – Next week, the U-S Environmental Protection Agency will issue a set of new standards that environmentalists fear could end up allowing more PCB-laden sediment in the Hudson River to be capped instead of dredged. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
A 40-mile stretch of the Hudson River was contaminated over a period of several years when General Electric discharged toxic PCBs into the water. GE is now cleaning up the contamination under the federal Superfund law. Phase One is complete, with Phase Two expected to begin in 2011. The operation is one the most closely monitored environmental dredging projects in history.
Larry Levine, with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York City-based international environmental advocacy group, says capping instead of dredging will likely lead to small amounts of contaminated sediment left in place. GE spokesman Mark Behan disagrees.
In a December 2nd letter, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation expressed concerns about a ceiling percentage of permissible capping ... DEC Executive Commissioner Stuart Gruskin wrote, quoting now "We are finally at the point where the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated cleanup will be implemented, and it is up to us collectively to do it right." Dredging is scheduled to restart in the spring.
Upon release of EPA's standards for Phase Two dredging, General Electric has one month to decide whether or not to accept those standards.