GE begins clean up of Hudson River
Today General Electric will begin dredging toxic chemicals called PCBs from the upper part of New York's Hudson River. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
The old Hudson Falls General Electric Plant on the banks of the Hudson River, near Glen Falls, N.Y. (William Waldron/Newsmakers)
More on Sustainability, New York
TEXT OF STORY
STEVE CHIOTAKIS:
It's been a couple of decades of arguments and lawsuits, but today General Electric begins dredging the upper part of New York's Hudson River. In 2002 the Environmental Protection Agency ordered GE to clear the river of toxic chemicals called Polychlorinated Biphenyls. Those are dangerous PCBs to you and me. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
ASHLEY MILNE-TYTE: GE admitted polluting the Hudson for 30 years, but said it was perfectly legal at the time. Now the company is about to spend $780 million cleaning the river up. Manna Jo Greene is environmental director for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
MANNA JO GREENE: I really want to commend General Electric, the treatment facility they have built is state-of-the-art, it has very high safety standards.
GE will separate the PCBs from river sediment in enclosed space so no chemicals escape into the air. Greene says a change at the top has helped this project get underway.
GREENE: From Jack Welch who absolutely felt that GE was not responsible and in fact it was not a problem, to Jeffrey Immelt with his "Eco Imagination."
Greene says the full dredging project will take six to ten years. But she says it'll be a few generations before fish from that part of the river are safe to eat.
I'm Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.