U.S.

Hudson River Cleanup On Tap

August 1, 2001 / 11:41 AM EDT / AP

The Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed a Clinton administration proposal to dredge PCBs from the Hudson River but plans to implement the plan in stages, according to a New York congressman.

The $460 million plan, one of the largest dredging operations ever, is opposed by General Electric Co., which would have to pay for most of the cleanup.

GE discharged 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the northern Hudson River from its capacitor plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls until 1977, when the substance was banned by the federal government. Polychlorinated biphenyls have been linked to cancer in laboratory animals.

The company spent millions of dollars on a public relations blitz and lobbyists to defeat the plan. The company's chief executive, Jack Welch, personally lobbied Environmental Administrator Christie Whitman.

Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., was informed late Tuesday by EPA officials that Whitman was supporting the plan, said his spokesman, Kevin Madden.

But Whitman modified the Clinton administration plan so that it would be phased in with stops along the way to test to see how effective the dredging was in removing PCBs from the river, Madden said.

"The EPA and Administrator Whitman have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear on the people of the Upper Hudson River region," Sweeney, an opponent of the dredging, said late Tuesday.

The dredging would take place in Sweeney's district, where residents fear PCB waste will be stored.

EPA spokesman Chris Paulitz had no comment Tuesday night. The plan will not be made public officially until late September after officials in New York State have had a chance to review it

New York Gov. George Pataki, who endorsed the EPA plan just days ago, also had no comment Tuesday through a spokesman

The EPA in December announced a $460 million proposal to dredge 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from a 40-mile stretch of the river north of Albany.