|
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today released the following statement regarding the announced agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Electric (GE) to cleanup the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that the company dumped into the river.
"At this stage, today's announcement of an agreement between the EPA and GE appears to be a positive development. What's most important is that the dredging of PCBs from the Hudson River will finally commence after decades of delay. That being said, we do take today's 'positive news' with a grain of salt. All of us who have followed this issue closely know full well of GE's stalling tactics and are keenly aware that the agreement only officially covers Phase I, which is only 10 percent of the overall remediation. The potential for GE to stall the cleanup after that phase is definitely a possibility.
"Having been involved since the 1970's with the effort to get GE to take responsibility and commit to paying for the cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson River, I have seen far too many excuses on the part of the company. Today must mark the end of GE's stalling tactics. Right now, it looks like the project is continuing to move forward, but we know that we cannot relax for a minute. I will watch the progress of Phase I very closely and will be very aggressive in pushing the EPA to keep a tight leash on GE to ensure that the company does not stray from its financial, environmental, and quite frankly, moral responsibility to clean the Hudson River. This and future generations of New Yorkers depend on our vigilance today to ensure that we have a healthy river tomorrow."
|
