William J. Kemble is reporting in the Daily Freeman Scenic Hudson is praising various Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for their efforts to have General Electric continue its work removing PCB contamination from the Hudson River. The lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking that a five-year review of the cleanup be expedited before Donald Trump is sworn into office next month. However, incoming U.S. Rep. John Faso, whose 19th Congressional District is bisected by the Hudson River, has not signed onto the letter. Last week Faso said there needs to be more information about the PCB levels in the river before a faster review is requested. Scenic Hudson wrote that the lawmakers' Dec. 2 letter “acknowledges the agency’s diligence in overseeing the cleanup of toxic PCBs that General Electric dumped in the river from 1947 to 1977. However, it takes the agency to task for declaring the cleanup a success and allowing GE to remove its dredging equipment from the river before conducting the mandatory Five-Year Review intended to determine the project’s effectiveness.” Faso said that criticism during the recent campaign alleging that he is swayed by contributions from General Electric are incorrect. “I receive contributions from many different sources,” Faso said. “I received I think a modest amount from General Electric entities during this campaign but that doesn’t have much to do with my position on this issue. ... If the studies that were agreed to determine that the levels of PCBs in the fish are too high then more dredging is going to be required,” he said. Scenic Hudson public policy analyst Althea Mullarkey said according to information received from the EPA, more dredging is likely needed. The data indicated there was three to five times more contamination in the river than the agency thought when the clean-up project began. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.