Table of Contents
How much waste is in the Hudson River?
Hudson River pollution by the numbers 1.3 million pounds of PCBs dumped into the Hudson River by General Electric over the course of 30 years. 310,000 pounds of PCBs dredged from the Hudson by General Electric from 2009 to 2015, in a court-mandated effort to clean up the river.
How much plastic is in the Hudson River?
In 2018, the Estuary Lab found an average concentration of 830,762 microplastics per km² in Hudson River Park’s 400-acre Estuarine Sanctuary. This estimate indicates that since 2017, the concentration of microplastics found in the Estuarine Sanctuary increased by about 6 times.
Is there waste in the Hudson River?
Other ongoing pollution problems affecting the river include: accidental sewage discharges, urban runoff, heavy metals, furans, dioxin, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Numerous factories that once lined the Hudson River poured garbage and industrial waste directly into the river.
How clean is the Hudson River?
Yes, the Hudson River looks clean and is teeming with fish. But, the fish and the river bottom on which they depend for food and shelter are contaminated by PCBs. PCBs probably cause cancer and can cause other serious health problems. The river is not cleaning itself.
What’s the deepest part of the Hudson River?
203′
Hudson River/Max depth
Who is involved in the Hudson River cleanup?
(See Investigating the Floodplain for more information.) EPA is the lead agency for cleanup of the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is the support agency for this project.
When did the Hudson River PCB cleanup start?
The Hudson River PCBs site was proposed as a Superfund site in 1983 and listed in 1984. NOAA and other trustees initiated a natural resource damage assessment in 1997. In 2002, EPA approved the dredging of approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from the upper Hudson River.
What kind of pollution was in the Hudson River?
Pollution of the Hudson River. Between 1947 and 1977, General Electric polluted the Hudson River by discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), causing a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river or drink the water.
How much sediment was removed from the Hudson River?
During Phase 2, approximately 2.5 million cubic yards was dredged. In all, over six seasons of dredging, approximately 2.75 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment was removed from the river bottom. The 2015 Phase 2 Overview fact sheet (PDF) includes a series of maps which show the locations where dredging took place.