ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James, Wednesday, filed a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency alleging it violated federal law when it issued a certificate of completion to General Electric Company for its removal of PCBs from the Hudson River.
The certificate was issued on April 11, finding the company’s required cleanup of the carcinogenic chemicals from the river was complete, despite the what the officials said was evidence that concentrations remain dangerously high in portions of the river.
On the day the EPA issued the certificate, its five-year review found the cleanup was not adequately protective of human health and the environment. The EPA concluded it does not have sufficient information to determine if or when the cleanup would meet the standard.
The lawsuit alleges the EPA’s issuance of the certificate of completion to GE is beyond the agency’s legal authority and should be vacated.
