Hudson dredging continues

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has restarted dredging operations in the Upper Hudson River in New York, south of Schuylerville south toward Troy.

The dredging is being conducted to remove sediment from the river bottom that is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that were used in the production of electrical equipment at two General Electric facilities on the river. Over a 30-year period ending in the late 1970s, an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs entered the river from the two GE plants.

The dredging project, which began in 2009, targets approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from a 40-mile stretch of river between Fort Edward and Troy. To date, about 70 percent has been removed. Dredging could be completed in 2015.

The project is being conducted by GE under the terms of a 2006 legal agreement and overseen by the EPA.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/hudson and www.hudsondredgingdata.com.