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Audio Feature: Hudson River stories

Jul 01, 2017 9:33 am
Here are some stories from the Hudson River this week. Click here to hear an audio version of this report.

The Stevens Institute reports temperatures this week in the Hudson River at Schodack Island have been between 72 and 76 degrees.

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.

Matt Coyne at lohud.com reports that the Coast Guard has called off, for now, an attempt to create ten anchorage sites on the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie and Yonkers for large barges. The Coast Guard said it would, "suspend future rulemaking decisions" on the proposal that was supported by the commercial shipping industry and opposed by environmental groups and most local elected officials. In recent days the legislature in Albany passed a bill blocking the anchorages, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo had not signed that bill at the time of the Coast Guard's announcement. Cuomo has not said whether he will sign the legislation or not. Read the full story at lohud.com.

• Heavy rains led to a 17-hour discharge from the City of Hudson Wastewater Treatment Facility June 27 into the Hudson River at the Broad Street Boat Launch.
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