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EPA: Hudson River Cleanup Working But Has Yet To Hit Final Goal

Composite Image by Dave Lucas (WAMC)

Federal regulators say a six-year cleanup of the Hudson River is producing positive results, but PCB levels in fish remain high.

The Environmental Protection Agency released a review of the $1.7 billion cleanup Thursday. The agency said it will take decades, at least, for the Superfund project to reach its goal of protecting human health and the environment.

Boston-based General Electric removed 2.75 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from a 40-mile stretch of the upper Hudson through 2015. Some New York elected officials and environmentalists have called for more dredging, saying the cleanup is incomplete.

GE says it interprets the EPA review as recommending against any additional dredging.

Until the mid-1970s, GE factories discharged PCBs into the river. PCBs are a probable carcinogen. They were banned in 1977.

© 2017 AP

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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