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NY Officials Criticize Hudson River Cleanup To EPA

Dredging of the Hudson River
EPA

New York's environmental commissioner says the $1.7 billion Superfund cleanup of the Hudson River is not protecting the public's health and the river as initially promised.

Commissioner Basil Seggos criticized the six-year dredging project performed by General Electric Co. in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt released Wednesday.

Boston-based GE removed 2.75 million cubic yards of polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated sediment from a 40-mile stretch of the river north of Albany under an agreement with the EPA.

The EPA released a review this summer that found, based on the data so far, the cleanup will protect human health and the environment in the long term. Critics have pushed for a broader cleanup.

Seggos' letter comes in the last week that the EPA is accepting public comment on the review.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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