Staff and wire report Published 5:29 p.m. ET Dec. 20, 2018 | Updated 9:12 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2018 CLOSE Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney believes the Environmental Protection Agency may soon issue a certificate of completion to General Electric Co. for its cleanup of the Hudson River. The Walkway Over the Hudson and Mid-Hudson Bridge from the Hudson River Rowing Association on Nov. 15.(Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)Buy Photo ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo says a state study shows General Electric’s $1.7 billion cleanup of polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the upper Hudson River is incomplete and not protective of public health and the environment. The Democratic governor demanded Thursday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not issue a certificate of completion that would end Boston-based GE’s responsibility for cleaning the Superfund site. The study was released a day after the EPA told the Journal that a conclusion had not been reached on the certificate of completion, and that it hoped to decide in the "near term." Though the EPA had said it hoped to finalize its five-year review of GE’s cleanup of PCBs in the river “in early 2018,” at which time it would determine whether to grant the company a certificate of completion, neither have been done. The Hudson River PCB cleanup is one of the largest environmental cleanups in history. A decision regarding GE’s request was originally due last December. GE dumped approximately 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from capacitor manufacturing plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls into the Hudson River during a 30-year span ending in the late 1970s. PCBs are a fire retardant and insulator that is a likely carcinogen. As a result of the dumping, GE signed a consent decree with the EPA in 2005 to dredge the river to reduce PCBs in the fish, water and sediment. The plan targeted 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment along a 40-mile stretch of the river, costing about $1.7 billion, according to the EPA. The dredging removed about 310,000 pounds of PCBs from the river. Cuomo said the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s 294-page report on the latest sampling data confirms PCB levels remain too high in fish and sediments. A GE spokesman earlier this month said GE had analyzed the state’s data and found 99.8 percent of samples showed PCB concentrations below EPA’s dredging threshold. Local environmental groups have called for the EPA to force GE to resume its cleanup efforts, which ended in 2015. In a draft of the five-year review released for public comment in June 2017, the EPA concluded cleanup efforts were implemented successfully and touted “encouraging” data from samples collected. The EPA said data suggested it would be 15 years before people would be able to safely eat one fish meal from the Hudson River every two months, and 30 years before they would be able to eat one fish meal every month. The EPA has paused on its decision to ensure a "thorough analysis" of all data, agency spokeswoman Larisa Romanowski told the Journal. EPA: No conclusion on Hudson River PCB cleanup; Maloney believes it's coming No firm timetable to finalizing Hudson River PCB review, ruling on completion PCB-free fish a $10,000 win for Arlington High School team Read or Share this story: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2018/12/20/general-electric-pcb-cleanup-hudson-river-incomplete-cuomo-dec/2381080002/
General Electric has been accused of failing to complete a $1.7bn clean up of part of the Hudson River. The work, which was ordered after the company dumped toxic polychlorinated-biphenyls in the river over a 30-year period, is yet to meet public health and environmental safety levels, according to a new study by the state of New York. The US Environment Protection Agency, which has yet to issue a certificate of completion on the project, said it hopes to reach a decision on the company's progress in the near future.