Hudson Conditions Better Than Ever

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation notes on its website, “Today, the Hudson’s waters flow cleaner than they have in decades.”

Between the work of municipalities to reduce the release of untreated sewage from combined sewer overflows, and GE’s successful six-year dredging project that removed 2.7 million cubic yards of sediment containing 310,000 pounds of PCBs from the river, work onbehalf of the Hudson is having an impact.

In addition to the 24-hour-a-day, 6-days-a-week, 6-months-a-year dredging project, which concluded in 2015 under the oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, GE has worked closely with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on work at two former manufacturing sites along the Upper Hudson. The state has concluded that, as a result of GE’s thorough cleanups at these sites, they are no longer significant sources of PCBs to the Hudson. These cleanups continue.

The Hudson dredging project was one of the largest and most logistically complex environmental dredging projects ever performed in the United States. EPA called the project “a historic achievement,” one that is meeting EPA’s public health and environmental objectives.

What’s Next

Now that all of the PCBs EPA targeted have been removed from the riverbed, EPA and GE are focusing on the 80 miles of Hudson shoreline (40 miles on the east and west banks) from Albany north to Fort Edward, N.Y. GE has already collected a significant amount of data, including thousands of soil samples. Approximately 80% of the samples have shown no PCBs or very low levels.

GE now is working with owners of shoreline property to collect additional data in order to assess whether PCBs are present at levels that would pose potential risks to human health and ecology. Following those assessments, various cleanup options will be evaluated on a number of criteria identified by EPA.

The New York State Department of Health recommends that people take certain precautions after working or recreating in areas along the shoreline where flooding may have occurred. Click here for more information.

If you have additional questions about GE’s work in the Hudson River, email info@hudsondredging.com or contact us at 518-792-4087 or toll-free at 1-888-596-3655.