HOYLMAN DECRIES EPA INTENT TO END HUDSON RIVER CLEANUP, CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF PCB CONTAMINATION REMOVAL

NEW YORK – State Senator Brad Hoylman (D, WF-Manhattan) released the following statement today condemning the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement signaling its intent to wind down General Electric’s cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in the Hudson River. This blow to the environment came just hours before President Trump revealed his intention to the pull the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.

“Sadly, today is a good day for corporate polluters. With the EPA shirking its responsibilities on the Hudson River PCB cleanup and Trump pulling our country out of the Paris Climate Accord, our air and water are both at risk. It's unacceptable that our children's future is being shortchanged in favor of corporate profits.“

For more than three decades, General Electric knowingly dumped millions of pounds of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, into the Hudson River. As a direct result of PCB contamination -- which has been linked to cancer, low birth weight, and thyroid disease – the EPA classified parts of the Hudson as a Superfund site and mandated GE remediate the river. However, even after completing the terms of its settlement agreement with the EPA, reports indicate that GE removed only 72% of PCBs.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and numerous environmental watchdog organizations have all found evidence that the cleanup is not complete. A 2015 study by NOAA found that the EPA’s original remediation models were “overly optimistic,” and as a result, achieving the EPA’s remedial objectives “will take longer than predicted.”