Thirty-two years after the last polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were discharged into the Hudson River from manufacturing complexes, General Electric Co. began dredging on May 15 to remove 400,000 tons of contaminated sediment along a six-mile stretch near Fort Edward, N.Y. Additional dredging is planned downriver along a 34-mile section to Troy for a 2015 completion.
Fairfield, Conn.-based GE has not released costs, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates total cleanup at about $750 million. Additionally, New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation is montoring a tunnel-collection gallery drilled and blasted beneath the river to collect PCBs that leached into bedrock.