As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepares to release its third five-year review of the Hudson River PCB cleanup by General Electric, two Hudson Valley Congressmen are seeking additional remediation.
The EPA is preparing to release the third five-year review of the Hudson River Superfund cleanup. GE completed its dredging of contaminated sediment from the river in a 40-mile section from Fort Edward to Troy in 2015.
But as the report nears, Hudson Valley Congressmen Pat Ryan and Marc Molinaro say the EPA should require GE to perform additional remediation.
Ryan, a Democrat who previously served as Ulster County Executive, spoke on WAMC’s Congressional Corner program last week.
“Once again, GE is trying to leave, in my view, the cleanup unfinished and get off the hook. So, one of the big takeaways is, unfortunately, we just can't trust these companies to have the interest of the people at heart there. They are focused on, primarily, profit as their number one motivator,” said Ryan.
Ryan and Molinaro released a joint statement on Tuesday. Molinaro, a Republican from the neighboring 19th District and former Dutchess County Executive, said the EPA should “take all action necessary to protect drinking water, our environment, and ecosystems.”
Molinaro and Ryan also led a letter to EPA administrator Michael Regan that was signed by more than a dozen other members of Congress.
One year ago, Molinaro and Ryan authored an op-ed in The Hill calling for additional PCB cleanup. It reads in part, “as members of different political parties, we continue our tradition of working together in the best interests of the communities we serve. Irrespective of the partisan differences dividing the nation, we have purposefully rededicated ourselves to the full removal of PCBs from the Hudson.”
The bipartisan push is noteworthy for Jeremy Cherson, senior manager of government affairs for Riverkeeper.
“You know, I just want to take a step back and recognize how extraordinary it is that 20 members of Congress from both parties from both states on either side of the Hudson who can't agree on anything agree on this,” said Cherson.
As part of its process, EPA says it is reviewing fish, water, and sediment data. Five years ago, the agency issued a Certificate of Completion of the Remedial Action for the cleanup. The issuance included language that could compel GE to pursue additional cleanup if the remedy is determined to have been ineffective.
The Friends of Clean Hudson Coalition, a group of advocates that includes Riverkeeper, released its own review of publicly-available cleanup data in November. The report found that PCB levels in fish, while decreasing minimally, are not meeting targets. Again, Cherson….
“We’re calling for EPA to take it as a badge of honor that the five-year review process is working, that they will recognize what the data says and reopen our options to look at additional steps we can take to lower PCB levels,” said Cherson.
EPA says it is also incorporating feedback from agency technical experts, state and federal support agencies, and members of the site’s Community Advisory Group as part of its review process. The five-year review will made available for public comment upon release.
GE issued a statement in March after a coalition of state lawmakers and advocates also called for additional cleanup. It reads:
“Hailed as a ‘historic achievement’ by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, GE’s Hudson River dredging project removed the vast majority of PCBs in the upper river and led to broad declines in PCB levels. Data collected by New York State following the completion of dredging showed that more than 99% of sediment samples in the Upper Hudson were below EPA's dredging criteria.”
