EPA To Expand Hudson River Study

OSSINING, NY — Sending signals that its June decision may not have been final, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will continue efforts to complete the study of the Upper Hudson River and conduct supplemental studies of the Lower Hudson River. Region 2 of the EPA will also evaluate, in close coordination with New York State, about 1,800 sediment samples taken in 2017 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation from the Upper Hudson.

“While EPA, its partners, and the public continue to give serious attention to post-dredging recovery of the Upper Hudson, it’s imperative that we also expand the scope of the Agency’s efforts to ensure the Hudson River is fully remediated,” EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez said in a statement.

In June, the EPA released a draft of its second five-year review of the the Hudson River Superfund site in which researchers said they thought the work that has been done was enough. That conclusion drew immediate fire from environmental groups and public officials, who keep calling for an expanded cleanup. One reason they were so angry is that the EPA draft said in its summary, "hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at the Site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure."

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Riverkeeper’s Legal Program Director, Richard Webster said the Hudson River watchdog thought the EPA's announcement of continued study was a step in the right direction.

“We hope EPA’s outreach to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation leads to a thorough, diligent and collaborative analysis of the DEC’s data regarding Hudson River PCBs. After EPA closely examines this data, the agency will discover that the science further supports the position that Riverkeeper and many others have already taken: the cleanup is not protective of human health and the environment. Therefore more clean up is needed.

“We thank DEC for taking the initiative to further investigate the PCB contamination in the Hudson River and making its sample results available to EPA. We also appreciate that EPA is becoming more collaborative, that it is waiting until it has examined all the available data, and that is extending its investigation of the lower River. It is now up to EPA to make the right decision for the Hudson River.”

The EPA said Lopez reached out to NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos Jan. 11 asking for the final data from NYSDEC’s sampling effort and offering federal resources to help analyze that data, which NYSDEC has now provided to EPA. The EPA has begun its analysis, will have its scientists closely analyze data from NYSDEC’s 2017 sediment samples, and expects to collaborate with the state in order to make joint findings and conclusions about the data.

EPA Region 2 is positioning itself to further engage in assessing the Lower Hudson River stretching from Albany to New York City. The initial assessment - from the 1990’s – indicated that PCBs from the GE plant sites had migrated downstream and into the Lower Hudson River.

Since then, EPA and NYSDEC have continued collection and evaluation of water and fish data throughout the Lower Hudson River. These data are shared between the agencies and evaluated collaboratively. Given that fish recoveries in a portion of the Lower Hudson River may be slower than expected, EPA will begin conducting supplemental studies to include collection of additional sediment samples and other information necessary to better understand PCB contamination in the Lower Hudson River (including additional sources of PCBs).

EPA officials said the agency is also advancing a study of the floodplain in the Upper Hudson River where work on the floodplain first began in October, 2014 when General Electric (GE) agreed to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (comprehensive study) of PCB contamination. Under this agreement, this study is investigating the PCB contamination in the 43-mile stretch of the Hudson River floodplain from Hudson Falls to Troy, New York. This study includes an evaluation of human and ecological risks, as well as potential long-term clean up solutions.

To date, this study has collected approximately 8,000 soil samples on more than 500 properties in the floodplain. Soil and stone covers have also been installed prevent exposure to PCBs and/or installed warning signs on several properties. These measures are temporary, pending completion of the comprehensive study and the selection of a final cleanup plan for the floodplain. EPA will decide on the final cleanup plan with input from the public.

With respect to work that has already been performed, EPA Region 2 is reviewing input from NYSDEC, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior, and New York State Attorney General’s office regarding the certification of completion of the remedial action, which includes dredging and habitat reconstruction, under the 2006 Consent Decree with GE.

For more information about the EPA’s work on the Hudson River, visit www.epa.gov/hudson.

SEE: Hudson Still High in PCBs But No More Cleanup, Says EPA: VIDEO

PHOTO: Hudson River PCBs Superfund site/ EPA

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