Hudson River PCB cleanup to start

Workers must build a Superfund site support complex near Fort Edward, N.Y., before beginning one of the world's biggest environmental cleanup projects.

Before PCBs dumped by two General Electric in the Hudson River for decades ago be dredged from the mud, workers this spring will have to build the infrastructure that can support the Superfund site -- a treatment plant, rail lines, marina, utility lines and more, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. It's "like constructing a small city," John Haggard, GE program manager, told the newspaper.

The entire cleanup is expected to cost more than $700 million, the Times reported. GE has agreed to clean up 10 percent of the site, and if a panel approves the results, the company probably will volunteer to do the rest or face a federal order order to do so, the newspaper said.

The Hudson River is one of 154 Superfund "mega sites" that will cost more than $50 million each to clean up, the Times said. But the huge price tags are no guarantee of success.

Federal environmental officials said the toxic sites are such a threat that the challenge of cleaning them up is worth it.

"Usually, they are a blight on communities. In our case, the stigma of the contamination is hurting the economy of the upper Hudson," David King, the EPA's Hudson River project manager, told the Times.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Related stories:

Scientists integrate data in three dimensions to study climate effects on young fish
From the surface, the two areas of ocean off the coasts of northern New Jersey and Long Island, New York look the same. But to NOAA scientists, the four-square-mile patches could not be more different as they view real-time underwater images and environmental data to try to figure out what lives there and how climate change is affecting marine life, especially very young fish.
New map outlines risk of zebra mussel invasion
The spread of two invasive alien freshwater mussel species – the zebra mussel and the quagga mussel – appears to be controlled in part by calcium levels in streams and lakes and a new risk assessment based on water chemistry suggests the Great Plains and American Southwest could be next in line for invasion.
Scientists warn of climate change's impact on global river flow
A global analysis of the potential effect of climate change on river basins indicates that many rivers impacted by dams or extensive development will require significant management interventions to protect ecosystems and people, according to an article published today in the online version of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Helping chlorine-eating bacteria clean up toxic waste
Cornell researchers hope to learn how certain bacteria that break down pollutants do their job and then to make them more effective in cleaning up toxic wastes.
Endangered shortnose sturgeon saved in Hudson River
For the first time in U.S., and probably global, history a fish identified as endangered has been shown to have recovered -- and in the Hudson River, which flows through one of the world's largest population centers, New York City.
Leaked contaminated water pools grow
New York's Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant is leaking radioactive water into the ground, it was reported Monday.
Archaeologists Find 18th-Century Store
(AP) -- This history-rich Hudson River community has yielded a museum's worth of 18th-century military artifacts over the decades, from musket balls to human skeletons. But a colonial soldier's daily lot wasn't all fighting and bloodshed. They had their share of down time, and that's where the sutler came in, offering for sale two of the few diversions from frontier duty: alcohol and tobacco.
Hudson River shipwrecks contaminated
Several shipwrecks found at the bottom of the upper Hudson River in New York are contaminated with PCBs and may not be able to be recovered.

News discussion:

Superfund, National Priority? in Space & Earth science news