..Hudson. Agency Says PCB Cleanup May Be Needed

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

          "U.S. Study Says Old Waste Is Still Polluting Hudson. Agency Says
          PCB Cleanup May Be Needed."  New York Times, 24 July 98, A21.
               Senior EPA officials said yesterday that results of an
               environmental study of PCB's in the Hudson River shows that,
               in some places, the pollutants are not being buried under
               silt and are continuing to release PCB's into the river.
               Based on this evidence, they said that cleanup of some of
               these areas may be necessary by this fall.  The PCB's were
               discharged by General Electric before 1977, the year such
               releases were banned.  Douglas J. Tomchuk, the EPA official
               responsible for evaluating the river, said that several
               possible options are dredging the most heavily polluted
               areas, covering them with fresh sand, or leaving them alone.
               Some are concerned that dredging could release more
               pollution, and worry that it will lead to the creation of
               more landfills for toxic wastes.  Others fear that without
               any action, PCB's will build up in fish and pose a cancer
               risk to humans, especially the poor who rely on fish for
               food.  G.E. scientists have criticized the report as
               politically motivated.