State senators make bipartisan push for more PCB cleanup of Hudson River

HUDSON VALLEY – State Senators Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) and Rob Rolison (R, Poughkeepsie) have sent a letter to EPA officials urging the agency to declare that further PCB clean-up is needed in the upper Hudson River.

The lawmakers push to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Regional Administrator Mike Martucci was cosigned by 28 of their colleagues.

“General Electric dumped toxic chemicals into our Hudson River for decades, and it’s an injustice of epic proportions that this billion-dollar corporation is still to this day allowed to sidestep responsibility,” said Hinchey. “Full remediation falls squarely on the polluter, not the Hudson Valley and not our Environmental Justice communities.”

“This isn’t just about cleanup, it’s about restoring a river that the people and businesses that rely on the river can live, work, and play safely and every year of inaction holds back economic growth, public health, and recreational access,” Rolison said.

“The scientific evidence is clear, the Hudson River PCB cleanup is failing to protect public health and the environment,” said Tracy Brown, president of Riverkeeper. “The Hudson is a vital resource for millions of New Yorkers, yet lingering PCB ‘forever chemical’ contamination continues to limit its potential.”

Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson, said the EPA has the data “it needs to acknowledge that the cleanup has failed to meet the fundamental Superfund standard: ‘protective of human health and the environment.’”