(AGENPARL) – mer 10 luglio 2024 Issued: Jul 10, 2024 (2:11pm EDT)
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EPA Invites Public Comment on Review that Shows Progress and Need for More
Data After Historic Hudson River PCB Cleanup
EPA to hold a virtual informational meeting on August 21; Public can comment
on draft report until October 8
NEW YORK (July 10, 2024) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released
its third review of the cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the
Upper Hudson River. The EPA’s review concludes that PCB levels in water and
fish are going down overall, but the EPA needs more years of fish data to
determine if the cleanup is meeting the expectations of the original cleanup
plan. The EPA will issue an addendum to the current five-year review report as
soon as sufficient fish data is available, as early as next year. The EPA
expects to issue the addendum no later than the end of 2027. The report also
contains the EPA’s proposal for expanded monitoring and special studies to
bolster the data on which to base its conclusions. The EPA is accepting public
comment on the draft report until October 8 to ensure maximum transparency.
“The EPA continues to work on multiple fronts to address the contamination
throughout the Upper and Lower Hudson River and will ensure General Electric
Company (GE) remains accountable for the PCBs that came from their
manufacturing plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York,” said EPA
Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “Today we are announcing a 90-day
public comment period on the latest five-year review and appreciate the
intense public interest and continued input as we work to clean up the Hudson
River.”
The EPA’s draft Five-Year Review is based on sound scientific analysis and
an extensive evaluation of the data. The EPA looked at all the water, fish and
sediment data collected between 2016-2021, and the preliminary fish data from
2022.
Consistent with conclusions in the Agency’s last review, the EPA needs a
minimum of eight years of fish data after dredging to begin to draw
science-based conclusions about the rate of recovery in the fish. The eighth
year of fish sampling will be completed this fall. The results of that
sampling will be available in 2025.
The EPA also needs more years of data to fully evaluate the PCB levels in the
river bottom sediment. The next sediment sampling is in 2026. The EPA could
make a protectiveness determination sooner based on the fish data.
“The extensive dredging project set the course, but the road to recovery for
the Hudson River is long,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia.
“Over the next few years, we expect to have the data we need to identify
reliable trends. If the fish data shows that the recovery isn’t happening as
quickly as we expected, we will take the necessary actions to improve
it.”  
The EPA collects and reviews monitoring data every year to evaluate how the
river is recovering since dredging ended in 2015. Because the latest report
identifies several uneven patterns of recovery in fish, the EPA is looking
more closely at water, fish and sediment in specific areas of the river. The
five-year review includes these special studies as a series of recommendations
and follow-up items in the report. Some of these studies are already underway.
The data they collect will help the EPA understand how well the river is
recovering and guide the Agency’s next steps. The EPA expects GE’s
continued cooperation with the ongoing evaluation of the recovery of the
river.  
The EPA selected its two-part cleanup plan for the Upper Hudson River in 2002,
which called for dredging to remove approximately 2.7 million cubic yards of
PCB-contaminated sediment from the river bottom, followed by an extended
period of natural recovery – a gradual period of improvement in water, fish
and sediment that the EPA projected would occur over a more than 50-year
timeframe. The primary purpose of the cleanup is to reduce PCB levels in fish
to protect people and wildlife that eat the fish. The cleanup plan also
included reconstructing habitats impacted by the dredging, which included
extensive seeding and planting.
Fish consumption restrictions and advisories are a part of the cleanup plan
the EPA selected for the Upper Hudson River and will continue to be necessary
to protect people’s health. The restrictions and advisories are designed to
help inform people about the risks from eating fish contaminated with PCBs to
reduce the risk from people eating the fish that they catch. The restrictions
in the Upper Hudson River will need to remain in place until PCB levels in
fish are reduced and New York State determines that changes can be made to the
restrictions.  
It’s important that people are aware of and follow the fishing restrictions
and fish consumption advisories set by New York State. The EPA is working
closely with the New York State Department of Health to support their
education and outreach program to inform area newcomers and others who may be
looking to the river as a food source.  
The EPA is actively working in all parts of the river to study and address
PCBs. In the Upper Hudson River, an extensive floodplain study is underway to
evaluate PCB contamination in soil in shoreline areas along a 43-mile stretch
of river between Hudson Falls and Troy, NY. The Agency is also overseeing the
deconstruction of the Powerhouse and Allen Mill in Hudson Falls, NY – two
structures located adjacent to the former GE Hudson Falls plant. Last spring,
the EPA began an investigation in the lower Hudson River under a new agreement
with GE which includes extensive fish, water and sediment sampling between
Troy and the Battery in New York City.
The third Five-Year Review report is available on the EPA Hudson River PCBs
site webpage.
During the 90-day public comment period, which runs to October 8, comments can