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EPA explains why it is done cleaning PCBs from Hudson River
Jun 30, 2017 12:03 am
The Mid-Hudson News Network reports in The Daily Freeman that on June 28 in Poughkeepsie the Environmental Protect Agency held the first of two public hearings, explaining why they are not cleaning up all the PCB's General Electric dumped in the Hudson River last century. “The PCBs are spread out in a huge area of 200 miles,” Gary Klawinski, the EPA’s field office director for the Hudson River, explained. “It’s not feasible to take all those PCBs out, unfortunately.” Instead, in 15 years, people will only be able to eat one fish meal from the Hudson River every two months, according to health recommendations. It will take more than 55 years before all local species of fish from the Hudson RIver are safe enough for some people to eat once a week. Representatives of Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper, and local government officials weren't happy about that. “General Electric has conducted an extensive cleanup in the upper Hudson, but they left thousands of pounds of PCBs behind, Superfund caliber contaminants, meaning the most hazardous waste in the country. Those are still in the upper Hudson and they are flowing over the Troy dam and contaminating the lower Hudson,” Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan said. “Our fish are not safe to eat, our drinking water is threatened; our air is unsafe. It’s time for a complete and comprehensive cleanup.” The EPA holds a second public hearing at 6 p.m. Wed., July 19 at the The Saratoga Hilton, 534 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.