"If It's Really Bad, Ship It to West Texas "

[ensho]

http://counterpunch.com/federman05272009.html


The PCBs of the Hudson River


One would be forgiven for not believing headlines last week stating that General Electric has finally started the process of dredging the Upper Hudson in an effort to remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the river. Forgiven because it has been more than half a century since GE began dumping PCBs into the Hudson and decades since environmental organizations called attention to the problem.

Last Monday the company reluctantly undertook what is said to be a six-year effort to dredge the river and remove the sediment, which will be carried by barge to a dewatering facility in Fort Edward. According to Reuters, the aim of the first phase of the project is to remove 265,000 cubic yards of sediment and 20,300 kilograms of PCBs. Phase II, if Phase II is reached, will be completed in 2015.

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For a thirty-year period, from 1947 to 1977, GE pumped some 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from manufacturing plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edwards into the Hudson. PCBs, which were banned in the 1970s and are no longer produced in the United States accumulate over time in fish and other small organisms and may reach levels dangerous to human health. The EPA limit on PCBs is 0.0005 milligrams per liter of drinking water.

The EPA studied PCB contamination of the Hudson as early as 1983. But it has taken more than two decades for the agency to force GE’s hand and remove the contaminated sediment from the river.


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While the dredging of the Hudson has been claimed as a victory of sorts for environmentalists in New York, it has raised concerns in West Texas where the contaminated sediment will be sent. Environmentalists argue that use of the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site in Andrews, Texas could poison the Ogallala aquifer and are demanding an Environmental Impact Statement.

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-snip-

But the plan to ship 81 carloads of contaminated sediment every four to five days for six months beginning this summer will move ahead. “The train cars will have plastic covers that would do nothing to hold the toxic waste in the event of a derailment,” the Sierra Club’s Carman said. "Communities along the route must be informed and first responders warned so they can be prepared to handle a potential disaster."

I suppose a certain amount of progress has been made. This time around, residents know the PCBs are coming.
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that's ok, climate change will move it all about anyway.