Demand EPA hold General Electric accountable for PCB pollution in the Hudson River

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Demand EPA hold General Electric accountable for PCB pollution in the Hudson River

RESOURCES

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand press release on PCB clean up

Independent Review of EPA's Upper Hudson River PCB dredging remedy

Join us in demanding the EPA hold General Electric accountable for their PCB pollution in the Hudson River.

On February 15, 2024, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stood with state, county, and local officials and environmental advocates at Albany City Hall to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take action to clean up “forever chemicals,” polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Hudson River.

PCBs are toxic, man-made chemicals that can linger in water and soil for decades. Exposure is associated with a variety of serious health conditions, including cancers, and liver and kidney disorders. For 30 years – from 1947 to 1977 – General Electric dumped over 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River, turning it into one of the country’s largest Superfund sites. Despite six years of dredging to clean it up, and even though more PCBs were removed from the river than the amount projected in the original remediation plan, significantly more were left behind.

Every five years, EPA is required to review the Hudson River PCB cleanup process and determine if it is complete or if there is more to be done. EPA’s next five-year review report is expected to be made public in 2024. In anticipation of its release, the Friends of a Clean Hudson (FOCH), led by Riverkeeper, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and Scenic Hudson, worked with technical experts to conduct an independent analysis, which concluded that cleanup efforts to date have not succeeded in reducing PCB concentrations in sediment and fish to levels needed to protect human and ecological health.

Right now, the senator along with state, county, and local officials and the Friends of Clean Hudson coalition are calling on EPA to acknowledge in this upcoming five-year review report that the dredging remedy is not working as intended and begin the process of assessing additional remedial actions.

Join us in demanding that the EPA acknowledge that the Upper Hudson River dredging remedy has failed to meet the goals and objectives of the cleanup, and urge EPA to adopt a “not protective determination” in the release of the third five-year review.

Instructions:

Read the sample letter (below) and edit it as you see fit. Personalized comments have a greater impact!

Recipients

Lisa Garcia, EPA, Region 2 Administrator
Michael Regan, EPA Administrator

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Dear [Decision Maker],

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General Electric's legacy of toxic PCB pollution in the Hudson River persists, despite cleanup of some highly contaminated areas of sediment. As data trends clearly show, the cleanup efforts to date have not succeeded in reducing PCB concentrations in sediment and fish to levels that are safe for human and environmental health. That's because even though more PCBs were removed than the amount projected in the original remediation plan, significantly more were left behind.

The public and environmental health threats posed by PCBs in the Hudson have been borne by generations of people living along its shores. The health effects are long-term and cumulative. Consumption of contaminated fish is the single greatest source of human exposure to PCBs, and the only protection from the negative health impacts of "exposure" to PCB-laden fish has been fish consumption advisories. Without a robust natural recovery, the elevated human health and ecological risks currently posed by fish consumption will likely persist for the foreseeable future. The reliance on fish consumption advisories is not an effective nor a just solution for mitigation of human health risks, particularly for environmental justice communities who rely on subsistence fishing.

The EPA doesn't need more data - it needs to take urgent action. I stand with my representatives and demand that you adopt a "not protective determination" in the upcoming third five-year review, so that EPA can begin evaluating ways to clean up PCBs in the Hudson River once and for all.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]