Yes! Since the 1970s, there have been several drastic attempts to clean up the Hudson River and reduce the input of toxic chemicals into its waters.
- Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. In the 1970s, Clearwater forced a clean-up of PCB contamination of the Hudson River caused by industrial manufacturing by General Electric Corporation (GE) and other companies on the river's edge. This is because GE's had discharged over 1.3 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) into the river from 1947 to 1977. (Visit: http://www.clearwaterfestival.org/archive/2009/05.html)
- In 1976 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) banned all fishing in the Upper Hudson due to health concerns with PCBs.
- In 1983, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared a 200 mile (322 km) stretch of the river, from Hudson Falls to New York City, to be a Superfund site requiring cleanup. GE began dredging operations to clean up the PCBs on May 15, 2009
- In 1980, Consolidated Edison agreed to drop its 17-year fight to build a pumped-storage hydroelectricity facility on Storm King Mountain. This action spurred the Riverkeeper program that grew into a global umbrella organization, the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Despite decades of awareness, preservation, and clean-up efforts, water pollution in the Hudson River is still a major environmental concern
PCBs are a dangerous health risk...
- PCBs can damage the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems. They can impair children's physical and intellectual development.
- PCBs cause cancer in animals and are strongly linked to human cancer, according to studies by leading health agencies - the International Agency for Research on Cancer; National Toxicology Program; EPA; World Health Organization; etc.
- According to the EPA, cancer risks from eating upper river PCB-contaminated fish are 1,000 times its goal for protection and 10 times the highest level generally allowed by Superfund Law.
- PCBs were designed not to break down. They are "persistent organic pollutants" that remain in the environment indefinitely.
- GE claims river microbes eliminate PCBs naturally, but the EPA found less than 10 percent have broken down. After breakdown, PCBs remain toxic and are more readily spread throughout the ecosystem.
- GE claims Hudson River PCB pollution has dropped 90 percent, a deceptive statistic because the drop occurred when discharges were banned in the late '70s. Since the mid-'80s, levels have remained quite constant and well above acceptable limits. The EPA's independent, peer-reviewed science predicts the problem will last into the foreseeable future without remediation.
- GE's PCBs are responsible for "Eat None" health advisories for women of childbearing age and children for all fish from all Hudson River locations.
- For more info, visit http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/hhudson.asp
Harming our natural environment/living species:
Fish extinction
- "10 of 13 Signature Hudson River Fish are in Serious Jeopardy: Many Hudson River fish species are in serious long-term decline and may be at risk of collapse if aggressive measures are not taken quickly. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation held a series of meetings with area fisherman and other interested parties to develop recommendations for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to determine the best methods of protecting this fishery. The Pisces Report, a recent study commissioned by Riverkeeper, found that ten have declined in abundance since the 1980s: American shad, Atlantic tomcod, bay anchovy, alewife, blueback herring, rainbow smelt, hogchoker, white catfish, weakfish and white perch. Only three species—striped bass, bluefish and spottail shiner—have increased their population, due to circumstances that favored them. Contrary to public perception, the Pisces Report indicates an increasingly unstable ecosystem in the Hudson" (http://www.clearwater.org/environmental-action/fish-in-trouble/)
American shad (Alosa sapidissima)
Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod)
(left) Hogchoker (Trinectus maculates)
(right) Bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli)
Alewife (Alosa psuedoharengus)
Blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis)
Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax)
White catfish (Ameiurus catus)
Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis)
White perch (Morone americana)
Otter extinction- otters find most food in water, therefore they are less likely to find healthy sources of food
Eco-system disruption- Fish and embryo damage-Birds sensitive embryo/less likely to consume fish (main source of food)
Bottom Dwelling Animals- Insects, Mussels- High Pollution/Water Pollution from chemical sediment.
Causes:
PCB
- Over 1.3 million pounds of PCB's were dropped in the Hudson river by GE from 1947-1977. Despite drastic clean-ups of PCB, about 200,000 pounds still remain in upper river sediments
- Every day, through resuspension by currents, boats, bottom-dwelling animals, etc., the sediments release PCBs. About 500 pounds wash over the Troy dam annually.
- Factories, schools, abandon warehouses dump directly into the river.
-
List Of Links to companies, sources of Pollution-
1. http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/hhudson.asp
2. http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/cmsvriverlovers/Pollute.html
Urban runoff
- Storm water runoff occurs when precipitation from rain flows over the ground. (Impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks and streets prevent storm water runoff from naturally soaking into the ground)
- ·What Problems Occur As an Effect of Runoff? “Storm water can pick up debris, chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and flow into a storm sewer system or directly to a lake, stream, river, wetland, or coastal water. Anything that enters a storm sewer system is discharged untreated into the water bodies we use for swimming, fishing and providing drinking water.” -http://www.epa.gov/weatherchannel/stormwater.html
Other causes of water pollution in the Hudson River are...
Accidental sewage discharges
Heavy metals
Furans
Dioxin
Pesticides
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
How can You Help?
How to help prevent water run off...
- http://www.nysthruway.gov/environmental/drops/index.html
Help clean-up PCBs contaminating the Hudson River
People in the Hudson River Valley have lived with an unacceptable level of PCBs while GE has developed an endless string of reasons to stall any efforts to remedy this serious problem. Here's how you can help...
STOP BUYING GE LIGHTBULBS, APPLIANCES & SERVICES.
Write to GE's CEO Jack Welch, and then to your local retail store and tell them that you would like them to carry alternatives to GE products until GE agrees to clean-up its mess.
Jack Welch
Chairman & CEO
General Electric
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT 06431
Phone: (202) 373-2211
Fax: (202) 373-313
WRITE TO THE EPA, AND TELL THEM YOU SUPPORT THE CLEAN-UP.
Even though the public comment period is officially closed, GE is spending millions on a warm and fuzzy advertising campaign to mislead the public. We need to keep the pressure on. Your letter should include the following points:
1. The Hudson River is not cleaning itself and the PCB contamination is not going to go away.
2. GE made the mess and they should pay for the clean-up.
3. Proven technology exists to clean the river safely and GE has already agreed to clean-up up similar sites around the country. Your letter should be addressed to:
Ms. Alison Hess / Mr. Doug Tomchuk
Region 2, U.S. EPA
Hudson River PCBs Public Comment
290 Broadway, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866
Phone: (212) 637-5000
Email: Hudsoncomment.Region2@epa.govAdministrator Christine Todd Whitman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1101A, USEPA Headquarters
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20460
Phone: (202) 260-7960
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