skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Environmentalists Urge Review of Hudson PCB Cleanup

play audio
Play

Friday, December 18, 2015   

NEW YORK - If you broke it, you must fix it. That's the message environmentalists want the Environmental Protection Agency to send to General Electric.

Five environmental groups have sent a petition to the EPA requesting a review of the effectiveness of the company's efforts to clean up tons of toxic PCBs dumped into the Hudson River. In 2005, GE agreed to a limited cleanup based on an earlier estimate of how much contamination there was. But Althea Mullarkey, public policy and special-project analyst for the environmental group Scenic Hudson, said that before the dredging even began, GE knew there was far more.

"The hope had always been that, during the course of the project, you would adapt to that just like you would any other type of science and data-driven project," he said. "It didn't happen. They stuck to a number and that's what they did."

The environmentalists claim that the real goal of the cleanup, protecting public health and safety, has not been met. But in October, GE declared its dredging had been completed. Last month, the EPA approved the decommissioning of facilities critical to the cleanup operations.

The cleanup is supposed to meet health and safety goals set by the EPA in 2002. But according to Daniel Raichel, a staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a review of the cleanup by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined that there will be up to five times more PCBs left in the upper Hudson than originally estimated.

"Recently," Raichel said, "NOAA released computer modeling showing that the cleanup as planned is not going to hit those health and safety targets, that it will fail."

If the NOAA analysis is right, Raichel said, it will be roughly 100 years from when the Hudson fishery was shut down until Upper Hudson fish are "even marginally edible again."

In some areas, the contaminated sediment was much deeper than expected, and Mullarkey gave GE credit for digging deeper in targeted areas. But she added that declaring "mission accomplished" doesn't mean the task is complete.

"If the fish tissue levels are not going down and the levels are really deep and it's going to contaminate for much longer," she said, "GE is actually still on the hook to go dredge more to get to the goals of the project."

If a review finds that GE will not meet remediation goals, the groups said, then the EPA must expand the scope of the cleanup.

The petition is online at docs.nrdc.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021