ALBANY – A just-released report by the State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that General Electric’s cleanup of PCB contamination in the upper Hudson River is incomplete and not protective of public health and the environment.
The state is calling on the US Environmental Protection Agency not to
issue a certificate of completion to GE, which would end its responsibility
for cleaning up the Superfund site, as PCB levels in fish are above EPA’s
own acceptable risk range.
DEC is also calling on EPA to direct GE to collect additional data to determine if another round of sediment remediation is needed. Also, EPA should compel GE to fund a full investigation of the lower Hudson, where PCB concentrations in fish have not recovered, the state report said. If GE refuses, the report said EPA should fund the work.
“A remedy that fails to meet its goals is not protective,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “EPA has a legal and moral obligation to complete the work they started and direct GE to meet the cleanup goals set when the dredging remedy was selected. Anything less is unacceptable, and New York is prepared to use all legal options to ensure EPA and GE finish the job and protect public health, the Hudson River environment, and the communities that depend on the clean and health river.”
Seggos said “under no circumstances” should EPA issue a certificate of completion to GE.
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