Amy Wu

New York state plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if the federal body deems the Hudson River cleanup complete.

The state also plans to withdraw from the 2002 Record of Decision, a cleanup plan involving polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) removal from the Upper Hudson River, a 40-mile stretch north of Albany.

On Thursday Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the state will sue the EPA if the agency says the PCB removal is finished. The announcement refers to General Electric’s request for a Certificate of Completion made on Dec. 23, 2016. The EPA has 365 days from the date of request to respond. GE, the multibillion dollar U.S. conglomerate, has a history of PCB dumping and been cleaning up the river per its agreement with the EPA.

CERTIFICATE: Groups urge EPA to withhold clean up certificate to GE

CLEAN UP: Questions swirl around data in Hudson River PCB cleanup



WATERSHED REPORT: Hudson River Watershed needs $4.8B investment: Riverkeeper

"The Hudson River is a critical economic engine and environmental treasure and New York will not allow PCB contamination to continue wreaking havoc on this vital resource," said Cuomo in a statement.

“The EPA cannot declare that this remediation is complete," Cuomo said. "If they do, New York will take any action necessary to hold them accountable for ensuring our waterways are protected and properly restored."

In a statement Mark Behan, GE spokesman for the Hudson River cleanup, called the dredging project “a demonstrable success in the first year since dredging was completed.”

Behan said the state had “16 years to object to this project and did not do so. It, in fact, endorsed the project when significantly less PCBs were going to be taken out of the river than were ultimately removed.”

Dredging occurred 24 hours a day, six days a week, seven months a year for six years and removed 80 percent of the PCBs in the Upper Hudson, said Behan. The company spent $1.7 billion to date on the cleanup, which has said vast majority was spent on dredging and manpower that involved roughly 500 employees.

Potential impacts

The state’s announcement comes at a critical juncture for one of the most high-profile environmental cleanups in modern history.

If the EPA issues a certificate this means the agency is “letting GE off scott-free for a failed clean up,” said Ned Sullivan, Scenic Hudson’s president, in an earlier interview. Sullivan said taxpayers could also then bear the cost of any future clean up.

From the 1940s through 1970s, General Electric manufacturing facilities in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward dumped over a million pounds of PCBs into the river. In 2015 the company completed dredging based on its agreement with the EPA.

In addition, the EPA is completing the draft of the second Five-Year Review Report for the Hudson River PCBs cleanup, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The EPA is expected to make their stance on the state of cleanup in that report.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation also concurs the cleanup is not complete.



DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “Time and time again we have cautioned the EPA that their cleanup was not protective of human health or the environment, and with Governor Cuomo’s actions today, we hope they will get the message.”

Seggos urged the EPA needs to review the removal of additional contamination and a certificate of completion shouldn’t be issued now.

Environmental groups including Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper lauded the state’s announcement.



“I think we have an opportunity for a win-win here for New York state and the federal government to find common ground here and unite to ensure a clean and healthy river resulting from additional remediation,” said Scenic Hudson’s Sullivan. “I think the governor has now clearly articulated New York State’s decision and EPA is on notice about that.”



Amy Wu: 845-451-4529, awu@poughkeepsiejournal.com, Twitter: @wu_PoJo