Hudson River Toxic PCB Cleanup
Scenic Hudson is an integral part of the decades-long efforts to heal the Hudson from its legacy-PCB contamination
Decades of toxic pollution in an American Heritage River.
UPDATE
Long-awaited EPA report on toxic PCB cleanup of Hudson River is dangerously wrong, overlooks scientific evidence. Read more below!
For over 40 years, Scenic Hudson has been leading the fight for a comprehensive cleanup of millions of pounds of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that General Electric dumped in the Hudson River from the 1940s to the 1970s. PCBs, known as one of the original “forever chemicals” because they don’t readily break down in the environment, have been linked to many negative human health effects including neurological disabilities, heart damage, asthma, cancer and diabetes.
In 1984, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deemed a 200-mile stretch of the river — from Hudson Falls in the Adirondack foothills to the Battery in New York City — a federal Superfund site. Despite the fact that GE completed six years of dredging of contaminated “hotspots” in the upper Hudson (2009-2015), significant amounts of this toxic substance remains in the river’s water, sediment, and fish.
Every five years, the EPA is required to review the PCB cleanup process and determine if it is working as anticipated and is “protective of human health and the environment.” In 2018, the EPA decided to “defer” the determination until more fish tissue data could be gathered.
In the latest draft review, released in July 2024, EPA once again claims that there is not enough scientific evidence to make a determination if the cleanup action is achieving the health and ecological targets promised to the people living along the river.
We strongly disagree with this finding.
In November 2023, Friends of a Clean Hudson, a coalition of environmental organizations including Scenic Hudson, released a report detailing how the dredging of the Upper Hudson River is not working as intended. This independent analysis found that neither fish nor sediment are recovering at the rates needed to achieve key goals first laid out in the 2002 Superfund Record of Decision. Alarmingly, it also indicated PCB concentrations will remain at dangerous levels for many more decades. (The National Academy of Sciences calls PCBs “the largest potential carcinogenic risk of any environmental contaminant for which measurements exist.”) Read the executive summary here.
The science is crystal clear.
We have been joined by an increasingly vocal, bipartisan group of regional political leaders, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressmen Pat Ryan and Marcus Molinaro, who are determined to get the PCB cleanup on the right track.
What's at stake?
- A 200-mile stretch of the river — from the foothills of the Adirondacks to New York Harbor — remains one of America’s largest Superfund sites.
- PCBs have accumulated in the land, sediment, and food web all along the river, harming wildlife and humans who come in contact with these toxic pollutants through the water and air.
- It is unsafe to eat fish from the river, and particularly dangerous to children and women of child-bearing age.
- The contamination has caused a growing environmental justice issue:
- Many immigrant populations rely on fish from the river as part of their diet. A Scenic Hudson and Sierra Club survey indicated anglers in groups such as Latinos and African Americans are most likely to consume fish in levels exceeding state Department of Health advisories.
- Of the fish species that have been surveyed, PCB levels are 10 or more times higher than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s standards for safe consumption.
- PCB contamination postpones significant economic opportunities along the riverfront, as well as resumption of a once-lucrative commercial fishing industry.
- It also prevents the river’s fullest potential for contributing to the region’s vital tourism economy.
Scenic Hudson and partners have long fought for GE to take responsibility for their toxic dumping. Scenic Hudson will continue this fight so that all residents and visitors — particularly subsistence fishers and residents of waterfront communities — get the cleanup they deserve.
How can I get involved?
- Stay informed about this campaign.
- Watch this webinar recording to learn what EPA’s draft Third Five-Year Review on the Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site actually means — for the health of the river, for our communities, and for you.
- Read the FOCH report and reach out to your state and local officials to push for a cleanup that the Hudson River and all New Yorkers deserve.
- Sign up for updates from the Friends of a Clean Hudson Coalition.
Success Stories
Danskammer Power Plant Expansion (Newburgh)
Expanded Crude Oil Operations (Albany)
Pilgrim Pipelines (Hudson Valley)
Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (Buchanan)
Desalination Plant (Haverstraw)
LG Headquarters (Englewood, New Jersey)
St. Lawrence Cement Plant (Hudson)
Riverfront Towers (Yonkers)
Sloop Hill (New Windsor)
Storm King Mountain (Cornwall)
RESOURCES
- Take Action Flyer, July 11, 2017
- Take Action Flyer (Spanish), July 11, 2017
- Talking Points for EPA Comments, June 28, 2017
- Take Action Flyer, June 19, 2017
- Take Action Flyer (Spanish), June 19, 2017
- Take Action Flyer, May 2, 2017
- PCB Fact Sheet, May 1, 2017
- PCB Social Media “Meme” for Sharing, May 1, 2017
News Release: “Cuomo Administration and State Attorney General’s Office Call on EPA Not to Let GE Quit PCB Cleanup Before it’s Done,” Feb. 5, 2019
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Statement about Results of New DEC Sampling Study of PCB Contamination,” Dec. 20, 2018
News Release: “Analysis Shows “Significant” PCB Recontamination Has Occurred in Dredged Areas of Upper Hudson River,” Dec. 3, 2018
News Release: “Cuomo Administration and State Attorney General’s Office Call on EPA Not to Let GE Quit PCB Cleanup Before it’s Done,” Nov. 29, 2017
News Release: “Flawed Data and Analysis Fatally Undermine EPA’s Findings that Hudson PCB Cleanup Will Protect Environment and Public Health,” Sept. 5, 2017
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Statement on DEC Review Concluding that PCB Cleanup Fails to Protect Public Health, Environment,” Dec. 20, 2016
News Release: “Scenic Hudson Commends Members of Congress for Urging EPA to Continue Hudson River PCB Cleanup,” Dec. 14, 2016
Letter: Associated General Contractors to US EPA, July 6, 2018
Letter: NYS Attorney General to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Nov. 22, 2017
Letter: NYS Attorney General to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Nov. 22, 2017
Letter: Scenic Hudson to US EPA re: Superfund Certificate of Completion, Oct. 27, 2017
Letter: “Submission of Remedial Action Completion Report,” GE to EPA, Dec. 23, 2016
Letter to EPA from NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, Dec. 20, 2016
Letter to EPA from New York Congressional Delegation, Dec. 2, 2016
Letter to EPA from U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, Dec. 1, 2016
Letter to EPA from Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper, Nov. 10, 2016
Letter to EPA from U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, Sept. 28, 2016
Letter to Governor Cuomo from 141 Members of the NYS Assembly regarding PCBs in the Hudson River, June 9, 2015
Letter to Governor Cuomo from 25 NYS Senators regarding PCBs in the Hudson River, June 26, 2015
Letter to Governor Cuomo from NYS Environmental Leaders regarding PCBs in the Hudson, Oct. 18, 2015
Supplemental Findings: “Hudson River PCBs Site Proposed Second Five Year Review–Supplement to Technical Review,” Feb. 2019, PDF 3.8 MB
Summary Findings: “Hudson River PCBs Site Proposed Second Five Year Review Report – Technical Review” June 2017, PDF 320K
Summary: Technical Review of EPA Five-Year Review, Sept. 5, 2017
NYSDEC Independent Analysis, Dec. 20, 2016
NYSDEC Independent Report: “Recommendations to EPA for the ‘Five Year Review Report’ for Hudson River PCBs Site,” Dec. 20, 2016
Report: “Hudson River Angler Study,” Scenic Hudson and Sierra Club, Dec. 2016
Report: “Hudson River Fish Advisory Outreach Project, 2009-2016 Project Update,” NYS Department of Health, Oct. 2016
Report: Preliminary Results of Hudson River Fish Consumption Surveys, NYS Department of Health, Sept. 2016
Advocates fault timeline in EPA’s third five-year review of Hudson River cleanup, WAMC, July 11, 2024
Clean river advocates deliver blistering rejection of EPA’s latest PCBs draft report, The Croton Chronicle, July 10, 2024
Commentary: The Hudson River PCBs cleanup has failed, and the EPA needs to act, Pete Lopez and Aaron Mair, Times Union, June 21, 2024
Ryan, Molinaro urge further Hudson River PCB cleanup in letter to EPA, Daily Freeman, April 16, 2024
As EPA prepares Hudson River report, NYS lawmakers and advocates say cleanup not complete, WAMC, March 22, 2024
Senator Pete Harckham Statement: “Harckham, Legislators and Advocates Lead Call for EPA to Oversee Full Cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson,” March, 21, 2024
Sen Gillibrand “Demands” EPA Clean Up PCB-in-the-Hudson Mess, Radio Kingston, February 26, 2024
Editorial: Do the Right Thing, EPA, Times Union, February 26, 2024
NY lawmakers demand EPA dredge Hudson River again, Public News Service, February 23, 2024
Gillibrand calls for Hudson River clean up, WNYT, February 15, 2024
Report: Cleanup Falling Short, Highlands Current, November 17, 2023
Environmental groups call dredging of Hudson ‘failure’ in new report, Times Union, November 16, 2023
Advocates want more cleanup as EPA conducts third five-year review of Hudson River PCB removal, WAMC, November 15, 2023
Hudson River PCBs: Molinaro, Ryan join forces seeking proper cleanup, Daily Freeman, April 8, 2023
Hinchey calls on Gov. Hochul to ensure GE finishes Hudson PCB cleanup, WAMC, November 1, 2022
General Electric agrees to study lower Hudson for PCBs, Times Union, September 13, 2022
Hudson River recovery: EPA begins next PCB contaminant review; here’s what it means, Poughkeepsie Journal, April 20, 2022
Report: Hudson River PCBs caused $11.4B in damages, News 10, April 12, 2022
EPA once again will assess PCB cleanup of the Hudson River, Times Union, April 19, 2022
Help Needed from Trump, Cuomo to Halt Hudson River Threats, Ned Sullivan, Huffington Post, Jan. 31, 2017
“New York to EPA: Don’t Approve GE’s Cleanup of Hudson,” Wall Street Journal, Sept. 16, 2016
Letter to EPA from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asserting that the EPA cannot certify the cleanup as complete, Sept. 16, 2016
“G.E. Spent Years Cleaning Up the Hudson. Was It Enough?“, New York Times, Sept. 8. 2016
Press Conference: “DEC Challenges Effectiveness of EPA’s Remedy for Hudson River Cleanup,” Aug. 22, 2016
Hillary Clinton statement “Clean Air, Clean Water are Basic Rights,” April 4, 2016
“Hudson Cleanup far from Complete,” op-ed by Ned Sullivan and Aaron Mair, Albany Times Union, Feb. 8, 2016
“Selling Out the Hudson,” New York Times, Oct. 9, 2015