EPA touts PCB cleanup progress; environmental groups protest – Poughkeepsie Journal

Findings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's second five-year review of the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site show progress toward "a remedy protective of human health and the environment," according to Catherine McCabe, acting regional administrator for EPA Region 2. Video by Geoffrey Wilson. Wochit

The Hudson River, as well as the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Walkway Over the Hudson, is pictured in this August 2016 photo.(Photo: Alex H. Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo

In 53 years, Hudson Valley residents will be able to eat a fish meal from the Hudson River once a week without concern for their health.

That's according to a five-year review on PCBs in the Hudson Riverby the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report, released Thursday,concludes cleanup efforts were implemented successfully and touts "encouraging" data collected since dredging ended in 2015.

But environmental groups, includingHudson River Sloop Clearwater and Riverkeeper, argue that progress is insufficient, and further remediation and dredgingis necessary.

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Riverkeeper Legal Director Richard Webster said moremeasurements of contamination in sediment and fish are necessary, which he said would prove the need for further action.

"The only sensible response is to perform more dredging," hesaid.

General Electric Co. dumped approximately 1.3 million pounds of PCBs,or polychlorinated biphenyl, from capacitor manufacturing plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Fallsinto the Hudson River during a 30-year span ending in the late 1970s.PCBs are a fire retardant and insulator that is a likely carcinogen.

As a result, GE signed a consent decree with the EPA in 2005 to perform dredging to reduce PCBs in the fish, water and sediment. The plan targeted 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment along a 40-mile stretch of the river, costing about $1.7 billion according to the EPA.

Dredging removed about 310,000 pounds of PCBs from the river.

As part of the efforts, the EPA is required to release reports on its progress every five years. In its second review released Thursday, the EPA found that dredging performed so far is expected to accomplish its long-term goals, but the remedy is "not yet protective of human health and the environment."

The EPA did not recommend further dredging by GE, and "natural attenuation" will accomplish the goals of reduced PCBs,Catherine McCabe, acting regional administrator for EPA Region 2, said. It would take about 8 more years of observation to discern a trend in the Hudson River's recovery, she said.

EPA predicts that in 15 years, people will be able to safely eat one fish meal from the Hudson River every two months. In 30 years, people will be able to eat one fish meal every month,McCabe said.

In this file photo from April 13, children enjoy a day in the sun at Victor C. Waryas Park in the City of Poughkeepsie. From left to right: Leonardo Bados, 3; Nicholas Estrada, 2; his sister Andrea Estrada, 8; and Miabella Laureles, 1. All of them are cousins.(Photo: Alex H. Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal)

"While the project was designed to set the river on a course for recovery, we have always explained that the recovery will take many years,"she said.

In the lower- and mid-Hudson Valley, the EPA found that, while PCB contamination was lower, fish were not recovering as rapidly as in the upper-Hudson Valley, McCabe said.

Further dredging would ultimately prove both costly and inefficient, according toWalter Mugdan, acting deputy regional administrator for EPA Region 2.

"A more aggressive model would only accelerate the process by a few years," Mugdan said, adding that the cost would be about $500 million.

In a statement, GE said "EPA said the dredging remedy is functioning as intended and will be protective of human health and the environment. No additional dredging in the Upper or Lower Hudson is recommended."

Organizations argue for more progress

ButManna Jo Greene, environmental action director with Clearwater, argued that slow progress was insufficient, particularly for individuals who eat fish from the river for economic or cultural reasons.

"Let's say it's only a few years," Greene said. "That's a few more years of exposure for those who don't follow the fishing advisory."

The EPA's decision to not require further dredging while the process was still underway only makes a more thorough cleanup more costly, Greene said.

"Now we're stuck waiting to see if there will be some effect over time," Greene said.

Webster said he found the EPA's wait-and-see responsedisappointing.

"Their short term goal of one fish meal every two months is the bare minimum people should have to tolerate, and this goal would take 15 years," Webster said.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation said the EPA has a job to finish, and as it stands the organization has "failed New York."

"We strongly dispute their conclusions and maintain that the significant amount of contamination left in the river threatens both public health and the environment," the statement read."DEC will continue to fight for the Hudson River and New Yorkers and hold the polluter accountable for its actions."

In a statement, Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan said the EPA squandered an opportunity for a complete cleanup of the Hudson River.

"By ignoring solid scientific evidence from New York State and its sister agencies and concluding that the Hudson River Superfund project will be protective, EPA is washing its hands of responsibility for properly completing cleanup of the largest Superfund site in the country and betraying its own mission to protect public health and the environment," he said in the statement.

Two area legislators also voiced their disapproval of the EPA's findings.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand described the report as "awful news for the Capital Region, the Hudson Valleyand all of the families who live near the Hudson River."

"I am disappointed that the EPA couldnt muster up the courage to do the job they set out to do and clean up the Hudson," she said in a statement."This decision is now entering a 30-day comment period before it is made final, and I encourage all New Yorkers to raise their voices and demand that the EPA finish the job of removing the remaining PCBs."

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, NY-18, also expressed disappointment.

"We live on the Hudson River its our home and an economic engine for our local communities and all we are asking for is a cleanup strategy that fixes generations of abuse and the toxic legacy of PCB contamination," he said in a statement.

Geoffrey Wilson:gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter:Geoff_LW

Public comment

The EPA will accept public comment on the plan until June 30. Comments can be mailed to EPA Region 2 Director Gary Klawinski at187 Wolf Road, Suite 303,Albany, NY 12205, or emailed toepahrfo@outlook.com.

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EPA touts PCB cleanup progress; environmental groups protest - Poughkeepsie Journal