The Hudson River Clean-Up

Imagine finding out that hazardous waste was going to be dumped in your neighborhood without your permission. Now imagine that your neighborhood is Texas and that the hazardous waste amounts to approximately 265,000 cubic yards. Well this is the current situation many Texans are facing.

For the past 33 years, the Hudson River has been contaminated with hazardous chemicals. The hazardous waste responsible for contaminating the Hudson River came from the company, General Electric, in the 1970s. PCBs, which were originally created by Monsanto, were used for transformers and capacitors because it was a liquid that "would neither burn nor conduct electricity", according to Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Incorporated. These characteristics made the new compound ideal for use in General Electrics' production plants. While the hazardous chemical was still legal, yet hadn't been tested yet, GE released it and other hazardous chemicals into the Hudson. The hazardous waste was mainly composed of TCE and PCBs. The EPA acknowledges that "a nimal studies have reported increases in lung, liver, kidney, and testicular tumors and lymphoma" as a result of TCE exposure. In addition to the EPA's description of TCE, they state that toxic PCBs build up (bioaccumulate) in the environment, increasing in concentration as they move up the food chain.

General Electric has implemented a plan to clean up the Hudson River by removing the toxic waste and transporting it to Texas. According to the EPA's Hudson River Factsheet, they will first dredge the Hudson River and pick up the debris that rests on the river's floor. The remediation company will equip barges with dredging buckets. These will run for 24 hours a day, 6 days a week for approximately 28 weeks according to the EPA Factsheet. Once the debris has been collected, it will be dewatered and turned into a substance called "filter cake" (EPA Factsheet). After the collection process has taken place, they'll transport the dry waste to Andrews, Texas. According to an article in the New York Times, the " sludge would be wrapped in heavy plastic, like a burrito, loaded onto open railcars and shipped to the landfill in trains at least 80 cars long." The same article states, " The trucks will haul the sludge into a pit dug 75 feet into red clay and lined with two layers of heavy polyethylene. Then it will be covered over with at least three feet of clay."

Although a clean-up of the Hudson is definitely necessary, the plan for moving the toxic waste to Texas has transportation risks. A railcar accident could cause a spill according to the director of the Lone Star Sierra Club in a New York Times article. He is also worried that the West Texas winds could potentially spread the contaminated soil. The plan to store the contaminated waste also has risks. The landfill is close in proximity to the Ogallala aquifer, which supplies a large proportion of Texans with clean drinking water. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that only 3 feet of clay is required to cover the hazardous waste. These concerns are largely unknown to the American public. It is important that concerned citizens find out the facts of what is going on in the environment around them, as changes like these can affect the health and safety of many individuals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Anatomy of a Toxic Spill: The Hudson River PCB Story." Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Incorporated. 1 Mar. 2010. http://www.clearwater.org/environmental-action/pcb-contamination/

"Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site." EPA. Apr. 2006. 1 Mar. 2010. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/success/hudson.htm

McKinley, James C. "Heading to Texas, Hudson's Toxic Mud Stirs Town." NY Times . 30 May. 2009. 1 Mar. 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/science/earth/31waste.html

"PCBs and Chemistry." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2 Oct. 2009. 1 Mar. 2010. http://www.epa.gov/hudson/pcbs101.htm

"Trichloroethylene." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 6 Nov. 2007. 1 Mar. 2010. http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/tri-ethy.html