DEC Commissioner Seggos Q&A on Hudson River cleanup https://t.co/1np9LXn0y8

— New York NOW (@NYNOW_PBS) August 30, 2017

The Albany Times Union reports that state Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said Aug. 29 that despite the Environmental Protection Agency no longer cleaning PCBs out of the Hudson River, his office will continue testing. The DEC has spent $2 million gathering about 1,600 water samples this summer from Troy to Fort Edward. Done cleaning, the EPA is currently deciding whether to issue a "certificate of completion" for the Hudson River cleanup, likely lifting any future liability from the source of the PCBs, General Electric. "EPA has failed New York state," said Seggos, "But they still have a chance to get it right." GE's seven-year dredging of a 40-mile section of the Hudson River ended in 2015. Seggos said the DEC does not have results yet from this summer's testing. The EPA predicted earlier in the year that fish from the Hudson would not be safe for regular consumption for 55 years. "EPA has decided, for some reason, to protect GE and not the Hudson River," said Richard Webster, legal director of Riverkeeper. "We don't want to have to fight for a clean Hudson for another 40 years." Read the full story in The Albany Times Union.