GE has responded to New York State’s call for more dredging in order to remove sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Hudson River.
“ GE successfully completed the massive dredging project in 2015, having invested $1.7 billion, having removed all of the PCBs that EPA targeted for removal, and having met all of its commitments to EPA and New York State ,” said Mark Behan, a spokesman for GE .
“ New York State played an instrumental role in every major decision related to the dredging project and approved and oversaw the work and does not dispute that GE met all of its commitments, ” added Behan.
Last week, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos called on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to deny General Electric’s request to certify that the cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the upper Hudson River is complete.
“ The Hudson River is a national historic treasure and we cannot let the PCB contamination persist any longer ,” said Commissioner Seggos. “ It’s clear from the state’s ongoing research that EPA’s job is not done and they cannot declare that this remediation is complete. If the federal government fails New York, we will explore all legal options to challenge the EPA’s decision and ensure this river is not left to suffer the consequences of pollution for generations to come. ”
The five-year review, released earlier this year, found that the river and fish are recovering as the EPA expected and said that the next phase of the cleanup project began, consisting of studying flood plains along the river and monitoring the river’s recovery progress for another five years.