Scenic Hudson commissioned a report calculating the damages PCBs have on the Hudson, putting the figure at more than $11.4 billion.
A local environmental group estimated General Electric damaged the Hudson to the tune of $11.4 billion by dumping carcinogenic PCBs in the river from the 1940s to the 1970s.
The report, commissioned by Scenic Hudson, attempts to account how the PCBs damaged wildlife, recreational fishing and drinking water along the river and comes as trustees from the state and federal government negotiate a settlement with GE over damages to the Hudson.
Called the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA), this figure is part of the federal government's attempt to collect from GE for damages to the Hudson, a public resource.
The report put damages to drinking water at $1.4 billion; the damages to recreational fishing at $2.4 billion; and the damages to wildlife at nearly $6.4 billion, among other costs, as part of the $11.4 billion figure.
The figure is greater than the NRDA for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which Scenic Hudson Director of Environmental Advocacy and Legal Affairs Hayley Carlock compared the GE pollution to on Tuesday. While the oil from the 2010 Deepwater spill had either been cleaned up or dissipated, PCBs were still damaging the Hudson's ecosystem decades after it had ceased, Carlock said.
The NRDA for the Hudson River is distinct from the EPA-mandated dredging of the upper Hudson by GE. The EPA issued a certificate of completion for the project in April 2019, but this was contested by New York state, which sued, claiming the dredging did not sufficiently remediate the river. New York lost the suit in 2021.
The report calculates additional dredging would cost GE another $10.7 billion.
The Scenic Hudson report uses publicly available studies and does not encompass all the ways the pollution damaged the river and its environs, according Carlock, who called the report "not entirely exhaustive." For instance, the report was unable to account for damages to commercial fisheries on the Hudson, which were closed in 1976 and remain shuttered to this day.
“GE’s dredging of the Upper Hudson River has been hailed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a 'historic achievement,' and EPA, supported by the federal courts, has concluded no additional dredging is needed," a statement provided by General Electric spokesperson said.
"This report by a private advocacy group is inconsistent with the wealth of scientific literature showing that Hudson River wildlife populations are healthy and thriving. The government’s natural resource assessment has not yet been completed. We are proud of our contributions and will continue to work closely with local, state and federal agencies,” according to the spokesperson.
Authors of the report say it is an attempt to calculate damages while trustees from the state and federal government negotiate the NRDA with GE.
"We’re calling on NRD Trustees to negotiate a settlement with GE that will provide for the restoration of the river," Carlock said. "The company should step up to compensate for its decades of pollution and lay the groundwork for clean drinking water supplies, healthy habitats, safe public access to the river for all and revitalized ecotourism.”
Polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, was a manmade compound used as an electronic insulator as well as other applications due to its heat resistance. Concerns over the toxicity of PCBs led to a ban in 1979. GE dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the Hudson from 1947 to 1977.
Roger Hannigan Gilson covers Columbia and Greene counties for the Times Union. He has worked as a reporter in the northern Hudson Valley since 2014 and spends most of his additional time outdoors. Drop him a note at roger.hannigangilson@timesunion.com.