4/16/97 Hudson Named Nation's Second Most Endangered River New revelations about PCBs spur rise from 5th place to 2nd. Albany, NY. -- Today the upper Hudson River received the dubious honor of moving up in rank from 5th to 2nd on the American Rivers Most Endangered and Threatened Rivers list. American Rivers, the foremost national rivers advocacy group, listed the Hudson because of its unique cultural, historic, and scenic significance -- and because almost two million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have made it America's second-largest Superfund toxic waste site. Twenty years after the problem was discovered and PCB discharges were outlawed, the polluter, General Electric, has not yet been required to clean up what many researchers feel is the world's single largest PCB spill. The Missouri River was #1 because of dams and navigation channelization. Does this mean that the Hudson is America's Toxic River? Maybe. Recent studies of laboratory animal exposure to airborne PCBs, international atmospheric transport of Hudson River PCBs, and reports of reduced intelligence and adaptability among PCB-exposed human infants have been concerning scientists and advocates for the past year. "This river, where Thomas Cole and Frederick Church painted, where James Fenimore Cooper and John Burroughs wrote, remains a toxic cesspool despite all the gains made through implementation of the Clean Water Act," said Clearwater Environmental Director Andy Mele. Ten million people live within one-half mile of the Hudson River, and many millions more within just two miles. In addition, the EPA's recent Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report proved that despite General Electric's claims, the river is not "cleaning itself." (See attachment.) This report contained the first substantive findings since EPA began reevaluating Hudson River PCBs in 1989. Clearwater Executive Director Madelynn Arana said, "We finally have hard evidence from a third party to refute GE's claims. Environmental groups have until now been alone in countering GE's corporate science and rhetoric since 1977, when New York State abdicated its right to go after GE for remediation of contaminated river bottom sediment." According to the EPA report, it is this very river bottom sediment that is causing the ongoing recontamination of the Hudson. Fully 70% of the 2-3 pounds per day that exit the upper Hudson into the lower (tidal) Hudson come from the Thompson Island Pool, a deceptively idyllic stretch of river which contains over 35,000 pounds of PCBs in a number of "hot spots." According to Mele, "If we finally prevail and EPA forces GE to pay for dredging the hot spots, we might see a return of the $40 million-a-year Hudson River fisheries. If not, there's enough PCB material in the Thompson Island Pool alone to contaminate the Hudson estuary for a century or more." Mele also stressed that because of PCBs there is an EAT NONE health advisory from the New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health (DOH). Women and children should eat no species of fish from any part of the Hudson River below Glens Falls. Distribution of PCBs in river sediment, water, and fish has been extensively studied and modeled. Distribution of PCBs in humans, however, is virtually unknown. While it is known that most people on Earth now have several hundred manmade chemicals in their bodies, the actual levels of PCBs in humans who live their lives a stone's throw from the Hudson has never been studied. "We need to see if there is a gradient from residents near the more-contaminated upper Hudson to residents in the Mid-Hudson Valley, or to see if the average Hudson Valley resident has a higher PCB body burden that the average American," said Mele. "And GE should pick up the tab," he added. According to Arana, the importance of the American Rivers nomination may extend beyond today's announcement. "We believe that President Clinton will hear of the Endangered Rivers List, and think of the Hudson when he chooses the ten American Heritage Rivers he mentioned in his State of the Union Address. We call on Governor Pataki," she continued, "and other elected officials in this state to support the nomination of the Hudson River this July as an American Heritage River." Clearwater will keep the press and public informed throughout the nomination process.

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