Ryan and Molinaro want more decisive action to clean up Hudson River – Daily Freeman

The Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the Hudson River as seen from Charles Rider Park in the town of Ulster, NY. Photo taken October 25, 2023. (Tania Barricklo/DailyFreeman)

KINGSTON, NY — Three months ago, U.S. Representatives Marc Molinaro and Pat Ryan sent a letter to a federal agency urging it to take decisive action to further clean up the Hudson River.

On Friday, July 12, the two released a joint statement saying the Environmental Protection Agency had failed to do so, even though a recent EPA report “showed that progress in eliminating the contaminants continues to fall short of required PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) reduction benchmarks,” the congressmen said in their statement.

Molinaro (R-Catskill) and Ryan (D-Gardiner) issued a critical assessment of General Electric and the EPA on Friday.

“For decades, General Electric has dumped toxic PCBs into our precious river, putting its profits ahead of the health and safety of Hudson Valley families, including the more than 100,000 people who rely on the river for drinking water,” said Ryan, who represents the 18th Congressional District. “The data is clear: Our community simply cannot wait any longer. GE’s initial cleanup is insufficient and continues to put our families and the environment at risk. Now is the time to act, and I will continue to push for GE to be held accountable for fully cleaning up its mess.”

Molinaro, who represents the 19th Congressional District, said the EPA is not meeting its goals.

“The bottom line is that it is not enough and the EPA is failing to meet a fundamental responsibility to seize the only opportunity we have to fully and comprehensively clean up America’s most important waterway,” Molinaro said. “We are enormously disappointed and cannot accept any more half measures and missed opportunities.”

In April, the two sent a letter to the EPA requesting that the agency make a “no protection” determination in its five-year report because without that determination, further removal of PCBs in the Hudson River would not be possible.

In its statement on Friday, it said the EPA’s review was inadequate.

“In its latest five-year cleanup progress report, released Wednesday, EPA will not determine that further cleanup actions should be initiated, but will continue to collect data for at least one to three more years before reevaluating whether action should be taken,” the statement said.

In their April letter, Ryan and Molinaro urged the EPA to stop procrastinating and act on clear data by requiring GE to immediately resume remediation work.

Tracy Brown, president of the environmental group Riverkeeper, said the EPA’s lack of action is discouraging.

“This week, EPA released the long-awaited draft of the third five-year review for the Hudson River PCB Superfund site,” Brown said in a statement. “Riverkeeper is dismayed that EPA has once again failed to recognize that the cleanup efforts at the upper Hudson River have not adequately protected human health and the environment.”

“EPA states it needs multiple years of fish data to determine whether the restoration is meeting expectations in the original plan, but the available data is clear – the river is not recovering at the expected pace,” Brown added. “While Riverkeeper welcomes EPA’s proposal for expanded monitoring and special studies to support the data, we continue to urge EPA to take immediate, decisive and proactive action to restore the river and reduce PCB concentrations in fish and sediment.”

Other environmental groups also criticized the federal agency.

“We strongly disagree with the EPA’s claim that they need ‘more data’ to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hudson River PCB remediation,” said Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson. “The science is indeed crystal clear: the ‘cure’ has failed.”

“With this misguided decision, EPA is abdicating its legal and ethical responsibilities and damaging the integrity of the federal government’s entire Superfund program,” Sullivan added.

David Toman, executive director of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, said: “Wednesday’s draft five-year report fails to acknowledge that the river is not recovering at the expected pace, so the most vulnerable in our communities will continue to bear the greatest burden – those who rely on the Hudson River as a primary or secondary source of food. The available data shows that dredging is not working and any delay in action continues to put ecological and human health at risk. The EPA must act urgently to protect communities and the environment.”

According to officials, the EPA’s five-year report, released on Wednesday, July 10, is the third five-year report tracking the progress of General Electric’s cleanup efforts in the Hudson River. Each report found that the targets for reducing PCB levels were not met.