Hudson River Toxic PCB Cleanup
Making continued progress in this David vs. Goliath battle to restore the health and full economic potential of the valley’s most important natural resource depends on sustained citizen action.
What's the plan?
For 40 years, Scenic Hudson has been leading the fight for a comprehensive cleanup of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that polluter General Electric dumped in the Hudson River from the 1940s to the 1970s. Despite achieving an early victory when GE completed six years of dredging of contaminated “hotspots” in the upper Hudson (2009-2015), significant amounts of these toxins remain in the river’s water and sediment, both in dredged and undredged areas.
In April 2019, we achieved another partial victory when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it lacked the data to determine if the cleanup had achieved its goal of being “protective of human health and the environment,” reversing its long-standing, but unsubstantiated, claim it was a success. However, the EPA simultaneously issued polluter GE a certificate of completion for the project, creating a legal hurdle to compel the company to continue the cleanup.
In August 2019, New York State sued the EPA for issuing the certificate.
Scenic Hudson will continue our longstanding battle until the Hudson River — along with the residents of waterfront communities and the millions of people who enjoy boating and fishing on it — get the cleanup they deserve. Mobilizing citizens and communities to join our campaign is essential for achieving progress.What's at stake?
- A 200-mile stretch of the river — from the foothills of the Adirondacks to New York Harbor — remains one of America’s largest Superfund sites
- PCBs have accumulated in the land, sediment and food web all along the river, harming wildlife as well as humans who come in contact with these toxins through the water and air
- It is unsafe to eat fish from the river, and particularly dangerous to children and women of child-bearing age
- PCB contamination postpones significant economic opportunities along the riverfront, as well as resumption of a once-lucrative commercial fishing industry and deep-draft shipping on the Champlain Canal
- It also prevents the river’s fullest potential for being an engine of the valley’s tourism economy
Scenic Hudson and our partners have long fought to get GE to take responsibility for this toxic disaster. Supported by community partners and our dedicated members, we remain present at every stage of this historic remediation and continue to press for the most comprehensive cleanup possible. We will continue the fight, as long as it takes, to reclaim the Hudson’s full potential.
How can I get involved?
Do everything possible — speak with state and local officials, draft letters to the editor—to hold GE accountable for completing a cleanup the Hudson River and all New Yorkers deserve.
Soon, designated Hudson River trustee agencies (New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, NOAA and the U.S. Dept. of the Interior) will move forward with a Natural Resource Damages Assessment (NRDA). The Superfund Law requires GE to pay to restore the Hudson River and compensate the public for the harm to natural resources its pollution caused. Through the NRDA process, the funds obtained from GE will be used to restore wildlife habitats and riverfront communities. There will be opportunities for the public to weigh in on the NRDA in the future.
Learn how to get involved and how you can help restore the river at DefendTheValley.org.
Success Stories
RESOURCES
- Take Action Flyer, July 11, 2017
- Take Action Flyer (Spanish), July 11, 2017
- Talking Points for EPA Comments, June 28, 2017
- Take Action Flyer, June 19, 2017
- Take Action Flyer (Spanish), June 19, 2017
- Take Action Flyer, May 2, 2017
- PCB Fact Sheet, May 1, 2017
- PCB Social Media “Meme” for Sharing, May 1, 2017
News Release: “Cuomo Administration and State Attorney General’s Office Call on EPA Not to Let GE Quit PCB Cleanup Before it’s Done,” Feb. 5, 2019
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Statement about Results of New DEC Sampling Study of PCB Contamination,” Dec. 20, 2018
News Release: “Analysis Shows “Significant” PCB Recontamination Has Occurred in Dredged Areas of Upper Hudson River,” Dec. 3, 2018
News Release: “Cuomo Administration and State Attorney General’s Office Call on EPA Not to Let GE Quit PCB Cleanup Before it’s Done,” Nov. 29, 2017
News Release: “Flawed Data and Analysis Fatally Undermine EPA’s Findings that Hudson PCB Cleanup Will Protect Environment and Public Health,” Sept. 5, 2017
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Statement on DEC Review Concluding that PCB Cleanup Fails to Protect Public Health, Environment,” Dec. 20, 2016
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Commends Members of Congress for Urging EPA to Continue Hudson River PCB Cleanup,” Dec. 14, 2016
Letter: Associated General Contractors to US EPA, July 6, 2018
Letter: NYS Attorney General to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Nov. 22, 2017
Letter: NYS Attorney General to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Nov. 22, 2017
Letter: Scenic Hudson to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Oct. 27, 2017
Letter: “Submission of Remedial Action Completion Report,” GE to EPA, Dec. 23, 2016
Letter to EPA from NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, Dec. 20, 2016
Letter to EPA from New York Congressional Delegation, Dec. 2, 2016
Letter to EPA from U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, Dec. 1, 2016
Letter to EPA from Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper, Nov. 10, 2016
Letter to EPA from U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, Sept. 28, 2016
Letter to Governor Cuomo from 141 Members of the NYS Assembly regarding PCBs in the Hudson River, June 9, 2015
Letter to Governor Cuomo from 25 NYS Senators regarding PCBs in the Hudson River, June 26, 2015
Letter to Governor Cuomo from NYS Environmental Leaders regarding PCBs in the Hudson, Oct. 18, 2015
Supplemental Findings: “Hudson River PCBs Site Proposed Second Five Year Review–Supplement to Technical Review,” Feb. 2019, PDF 3.8 MB
Summary Findings: “Hudson River PCBs Site Proposed Second Five Year Review Report – Technical Review” June 2017, PDF 320K
Summary: Technical Review of EPA Five-Year Review, Sept. 5, 2017
NYSDEC Independent Analysis, Dec. 20, 2016
NYSDEC Independent Report: “Recommendations to EPA for the ‘Five Year Review Report’ for Hudson River PCBs Site,” Dec. 20, 2016
Report: “Hudson River Angler Study,” Scenic Hudson and Sierra Club, Dec. 2016
Report: “Hudson River Fish Advisory Outreach Project, 2009-2016 Project Update,” NYS Department of Health, Oct. 2016
Report: Preliminary Results of Hudson River Fish Consumption Surveys, NYS Department of Health, Sept. 2016
Help Needed from Trump, Cuomo to Halt Hudson River Threats, Ned Sullivan, Huffington Post, Jan. 31, 2017
“New York to EPA: Don’t Approve GE’s Cleanup of Hudson,” Wall Street Journal, Sept. 16, 2016
Letter to EPA from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asserting that the EPA cannot certify the cleanup as complete, Sept. 16, 2016
“G.E. Spent Years Cleaning Up the Hudson. Was It Enough?“, New York Times, Sept. 8. 2016
Press Conference: “DEC Challenges Effectiveness of EPA’s Remedy for Hudson River Cleanup,” Aug. 22, 2016
Hillary Clinton statement “Clean Air, Clean Water are Basic Rights,” April 4, 2016
“Hudson Cleanup far from Complete,” op-ed by Ned Sullivan and Aaron Mair, Albany Times Union, Feb. 8, 2016
“Selling Out the Hudson,” New York Times, Oct. 9, 2015
