PCB Cleanup of Hudson River Far From Complete

For centuries the Hudson River has served as a safety net of sustenance from New York City to its Adirondack headwaters.  No matter how hard the economic times there has always been enough striped bass, shad, catfish, bluefish, sturgeon, white perch, blue crab and eel in this extraordinary tidal estuary to fill the buckets and bellies of any hungry angler and her/his family.  The bounty of the river has always been comingled with human existence – and the rights inherent to that relationship have passed from thousands of years of Mahican stewardship – to the first European settlers – waves of immigrants and disenfranchised minority groups that have made their home along the Hudson.  Today, thousands of New Yorkers still engage in subsistence fishing, but this legacy has been tragically impaired by chemical contamination of the river and incomplete efforts to clean it up.  Fish that once provided sustenance now have made generations of people sick.

For decades, General Electric knowingly polluted the Hudson River with polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs), resulting in a variety of harmful effects to the river’s ecology. PCBs, through the process of bioaccumulation, build up in the environment and as a result increase in concentration as you move up the food chain – with humans risking the most contamination.  Studies of PCBs in humans have found increased rates of melanomas, liver cancer, gall bladder cancer, biliary tract cancer, gastrointestinal tract cancer, and brain cancer, and exposures may be linked to breast cancer as well. People exposed directly to high levels of PCBs, either via the skin, by consumption, or in the air, have experienced irritation of the nose and lungs, skin irritations such as severe acne and rashes, and eye problems. Women exposed to PCBs before or during pregnancy can give birth to children with significant neurological and motor control problems, including lowered IQ and poor short-term memory.

For many years GE denied these allegations and avoided their responsibilities to clean up the 4-5 million pounds of PCBs they dumped in the river. In 2002, the EPA issued a record of decision for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site that specifically targeted 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB contaminated sediment from a 40-mile section of the Upper Hudson through the process of dredging from Fort Edward to Troy, NY. The second and final phase of the EPAs guided cleanup of the Hudson concluded in the fall of 2015.  While GE and EPA fulfilled their agreed upon goal – the process of the cleanup revealed a much greater amount of PCB contamination in the river than originally anticipated.  With as much 40% of the contamination still remaining in the Hudson River the EPA seems prepared to certify the cleanup and relinquish further authority to make GE finish the job.  GE has already dismantled its dredging infrastructure on the upper river.  If the health of New Yorkers and the Hudson River’s estuarine ecology truly matter – this must not be allowed to happen.

Since 1976, high levels of PCBs in the fish of the Hudson River have led New York State to close a variety of recreational and commercial fisheries and to issue advisories restricting the consumption of fish caught in the Hudson River and its tributaries. Reducing PCB contamination in the lower Hudson River is going to take much longer than the federal projections have claimed. To this day, the advisories and restrictions on fish consumption still exist, and but certain behavior patterns have not changed. Many people along the Hudson, specifically at-risk minority populations, continue to consume fish from the Hudson River due to long standing traditions, culture and basic needs of survival despite the aforementioned advisories and restrictions.

The Sierra Club and partner organizations have been trying get to better understanding of fishing practices along the Hudson River and how PCB contamination is affecting the lives of those that eat those fish. EPA refuses to properly acknowledge the risks that are presented to environmental justice communities by not requiring a full cleanup - citing a paucity of data linking vulnerable populations to fish consumption.  So we have been coordinating a volunteer led effort to survey fishermen at Hudson River landings, boat launches, festivals and other venues to document consumption behavior and fill that gap in information.  So far – the stories and feed back we have received confirms that almost half of the anglers surveyed eat the fish they catch – with varied frequencies - from once a year to several times a week.   With immigrant communities that eat the fish there is a growing narrative that a sense of culture, custom and heritage overwhelm the precautionary messages within the fish advisories. People simply trust long-standing traditions over nuanced warnings.

For Catholic Latino, Vietnamese and eastern European fisherman along the Hudson the early return of striped bass often coincides with the latter part of the Lenten season and the ritual of providing Friday’s meal from the river is hard to break.  Some Eastern European fisherman have dismissed the PCB content of the eels they consume arguing that the rivers they grew up with were much more polluted – and they believe that experience has given them some form of immunity.  Some anglers surveyed revealed that they consistently sold catfish caught in the Hudson River to local restaurants – which exposes a new set of unwitting consumers to PCB contamination.

Ultimately, we need a remediation protocol that is more protective of people and based upon removing more PCBs from river sediments. Telling immigrant communities and communities of color to break their cultural connections with eating fish has not been effective enough and it appears we will be facing continued decades of this persistent public health crisis if we do not do more to abate the contamination itself. We are not advocating that we stop the fish advisories – but advisories do not represent the kind of justice these communities need.  Holding GE responsible for fully cleaning up the Hudson, so fisherman, and community members alike can enjoy the beauty and bounty of the Hudson River as it was in the past should be everyone’s goal.

If you would like to help with Hudson River angler surveys or have information about fish consumption from the Hudson you would like to share please contact:  Roger.downs@sierraclub.org

If you would like to support the incredible efforts of our interns and volunteers in our Hudson River PCB cleanup campaign please see below on how to send a tax deductible donation:
Make check payable to: "The Sierra Club Foundation" and on the memo line write either "Atlantic Chapter" or "FC0241"
Mail checks to: The Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, PO Box 38225, Albany, NY 12203. Please include a note indicating the purpose. Thank you for your generosity!