NYS DEC study adds to evidence: Hudson River PCBs cleanup is woefully incomplete

Governor Andrew Cuomo today released a study by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirming that General Electric’s cleanup of PCB contamination in the upper Hudson River is incomplete and not protective of public health and the environment. Click here to read the study.

Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay said:

“DEC’s latest study is yet another brick in the wall showing that the Hudson River PCBs cleanup has been woefully less effective than we were promised. General Electric’s cleanup of the toxic PCBs it dumped in the river must continue – the health of our river, our wildlife and our communities depend on it. Those who fish on the river and the wildlife that live in it are still in danger. New Yorkers need real action from the EPA, not a free pass for an incomplete cleanup.

“The evidence shows that GE will miss multiple deadlines for getting PCBs out of the fish in the Hudson – by decades, in several cases. GE’s shareholders would never tolerate that kind of performance, and we can’t either.

“Meanwhile, we thank Governor Cuomo, who is joining members of the New York congressional delegation in urging the EPA not to issue GE a certification of completion before the job is done.”