PCB Pollution
The Hudson River is a body of water that
stretches for 315 miles from the
Adirondack Mountains to the Battery in
Manhattan, reaching its deepest point of
216 feet in the Highlands near
Constitution Island and West Point and reaches
its widest point of 3 miles
across at Havestraw. This river is one of the most
beautiful and scenic of
the Tri-State area. Unfortunately, it happens to be New
York’s most
polluted river. The river has been influenced upon since the
early
1600’s, when Englishman Henry Hudson commanded the Dutch ship Half
Moon on an
exploration of the river, certain that he had discovered a trade
route to China.
It soon dawned that this was no Atlantic-to-Pacific
passage but an Edenlike
place of awesome potential-a river valley teeming
with prospect and spirit that
was worth fighting for. In the centuries that
followed, the fight for the river
and its commerce never stopped, and still
continues to the present. Then during
the Industrial Revolution, with the
advent of hulking manufacturing plants on
the riverbanks, everything changed.
The river became a sewer, cut off from the
people around it by the
electrification of the railroads. The 1825 completion of
the Erie Canal
instantly opened trade to the Midwest by linking Troy to Buffalo
and
established the Hudson River as the major commerce channel for New
York
City. Tycoons transformed the landscape in New York and across the
country with
the railroad, and the Hudson River valley became a hotbed for
iron mining,
limestone quarrying and clear-cutting. Toward the 19th century,
when dynamite
blasting was reducing the face of the Palisades to rubble,
conservationists
became alarmed that something was being lost to progress. In
1900, New York and
New Jersey established the Palisades Interstate Park
Commission to preserve the
cliffs from further quarrying. Although
conservation efforts continued into the
20th century, there was no
progress to protect the Hudson River and its banks
from industrial pollution.
Some of the largest factories in the nation started
production on the Hudson
River, including Anaconda Wire and Cable in
Hastings-on-Hudson and GM in
the present day Sleepy Hallow, discharging waste
into the river. There are
numerous known contaminated sites around the U.S.
Among the most
dangerous of these, and of particular concern to residents of the
Hudson
Valley, are the forty "hot spots" in the Hudson River resulting from
the
dumping and leakage from General Electric plants at Fort Edward and
Hudson
Falls. From 1947 to 1977, these two plants legally discharged from
500,000 to
1.5 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson, and unknowingly
saturated the
bedrock beneath both sites with at least that much again. There
are PCBs in
Hudson River water, biota, and sediment from Hudson Falls to
New York City - 200
miles that comprise the nations largest Superfund site.
Pure PCBs are oozing out
of the bedrock to this day, constantly
recontaminating the river and over
300,000 pounds remain concentrated in
bottom sediments of the river today. The
spread of PCBs throughout the Hudson
River and the food chain, which it
supports, has created one of the most
extensive hazardous waste problems in the
nation. Polychlorinated biphenyl’s
(PCBs) are a group of synthetic oil-like
chemicals (therefore insoluble in
water) of the organochlorine family. Until
their toxic nature was recognized
and their use was banned in the 1970s, they
were widely used as insulation in
electrical equipment, particularly
transformers. Reputable chemists have
since concluded, "it was probably a
mistake ever to make or use PCBs." These
are serious poisons, which have been
shown to cause damage to the
reproductive, neurological and immune systems of
wildlife and humans and are
known to cause cancer. Exposure has also been linked
to behavioral damage.
Specifically, because PCBs in the body mimic estrogen,
women of childbearing
age and their infants are particularly susceptible to a
variety of
development and reproductive disorders. Once in the body, these
compounds do
one of two things: they block the normal passage of hormones into
their
receptors, or, mimic the hormone itself and enter the receptor in lieu of
the
hormone. By doing so can irrevocably alter and damage the development of
the
organism. Small amounts of PCBs are taken up by microscopic organisms in
the
riverbed and passed up through the food chain. PCBs accumulate
in
microorganisms, which are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by big
fish,
which are eaten by bigger fish still, and so on up the food chain. The
process
by which PCBs concentrate at higher and higher levels up the food
chain is
called biomagnification, or bioaccumulation. Once bottom-dwelling
organisms
absorb the material, PCBs are not readily excreted and remain,
in
ever-increasing concentration, lodged in the fatty body tissues of fish as
they
grow, as for humans they persist at elevated levels within the
bloodstream,
allowing for continuous internal exposure. As one consequence, a
once-thriving
commercial fishing industry in the Hudson Valley, earning about
$40 million
annually is now all but dead. Almost all of the river-dwelling
fish are
migratory, and the effects are such that the NYS Dept. of Health has
issued an
advisory telling people to severely limit their consumption, even
of fish caught
recreationally in the Hudson. Women of childbearing age and
children under
fifteen are advised to eat none at all. All other individuals
are advised to eat
no more than one meal per week of many species (like
yellow perch) and no more
than one meal per month of others (like striped
bass). Although humans can be
exposed to PCBs in a variety of ways, eating
contaminated fish is by far the
most potent route of human exposure, with
exposure levels of about 4,000 times
greater than from breathing
(contaminated air) or drinking (contaminated water).
Despite commercial
fishery closures and recreational fishery health advisories,
exposure to
PCB-contaminated Hudson River fish continues to occur! The
primary
distribution of health advisories in NYS is through publication in
recreational
fishing licenses. However, because licenses are not required on
the main stem of
the Hudson or in the marine waters, many recreational
anglers never receive
health advisories. As long as PCBs remain in the river,
the danger of exposure
will remain as well. Removing contaminated sediments
from the river is the
surest way to reduce PCB levels in fish, and in the
people who eat Hudson River
fish. The NYS DEC is investigating a long-term
solution to PCB-contamination at
GE’s facilities in Hudson Falls and Fort
Edward. This will include stopping
ongoing migration of PCBs to the Hudson
River and remediating both upland sites.
At the same time, EPA continues
to conduct a Superfund Reassessment of
PCB-contaminated sediments. The
culmination of this process will result in a
Record of Decision, which
may recommend dredging contaminated sediments for
treatment and destruction.
Advanced dredging techniques exist which could remove
the contaminated
material with minimal dispersal of material into the
surrounding water. This
has been successfully demonstrated in cleanups around
the country. Deposited
onshore in a prepared location, the material could then
be concentrated and
treated biochemically of preferably thermochemically under
controlled
conditions to break down the PCB molecules into hazardous residues.
These
are established, proven technologies. Another technique of removal would
be
the usage of a cutterhead suction dredge. This will limit the resuspention
of
contaminated sediments within the water column by combining the action of
a
rotating cutter with hydraulic suction. This has been shown to have a
more
effective and efficient design than other dredging equipment, with the
most
operational flexibility and the best maneuverability near shorelines. A
total
project cost of $280 million has been estimated. This is less than one
percent
of GE’s annual revenues! PCBs will not be removed from the Hudson
River
without two things: political will and money. There is a strong need
for further
research of these techniques as well as its effects on the
environment within
and around it. We can help by writing to the state
legislatures or senators,
EPA, or, NYS DEC urging them to: Order prompt
and comprehensive cleanup of PCBs
from the riverbed Use safe, effective and
commercially available technologies to
permanently destroy PCBs once they are
dredged Require GE (the company
responsible for the contamination) to pay for
a full cleanup. With the help and
action of non-profit organizations,
environmental groups, as well as the human
population, there is hope to
defend the river and its once awesome awe renewed.
I grew up and lived on
the river all my life and it makes me sick to know that
this happened,
because it affects relatives, friends and myself. I am part of
some of the
organizations listed in the bibliography and continue to do my fair
share of
letter writing to save the most serene place in my life, my home--
the
river!
Bibliography
Laws, Edward A. Aquatic Pollution. 2nd
edition. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. 1993. Pg. 301-305. Adams,
Aurthur G. The Hudson Through the Years.
New Jersey: Lind Publications,
1983. The Hudson: A Guide to the River. Albany:
State University of New
York Press, 1981. Barnthouse, Lawrence W. Science, Law,
and the Hudson
River