WAPPINGER – A portion of Wappinger Creek in Dutchess County has been placed on the Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites.
Sediment in a two-mile long tidal portion of the creek which is downstream from an industrial park is contaminated with mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other pollutants. Mercury in sediment can build up in fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them.
Environmental Protection Agency Regional Director Judith Enck said now that the section of the creek is on the Superfund list, the EPA will take action “to clean up this legacy of toxic pollution.”
That portion of the creek placed on the list includes locations in the Village of Wappingers Falls and the towns of Poughkeepsie and Wappinger, said County Executive Marcus Molinaro.
“It’s really part of the Village of Wappingers Falls efforts in partnership with Dutchess County to revitalize the village center and to continue to grow the village, it is absolutely necessary from an ecological and an economic prospective to move forward with cleanup,” Molinaro said.
For more than 180 years, an industrial park along the creek was used for hat manufacturing, textile dyeing, manufactured gas plant operations, metal plating, ammunition production, chemical manufacturing and other activities. Those activities contaminated the creek and surrounding communities.
Molinaro credited Wappingers Falls Mayor Matthew Alexander for lobbying to have the creek designated a Superfund area.
The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups rather than passing the costs on to taxpayers. The EPA searches for parties legally responsible for contaminating a site, and holds them accountable for cleanup costs.
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