skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, July 15, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

After the Trump assassination attempt, defining democracy gets even harder; Trump picks Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a once-fierce critic turned loyal ally, as his GOP running mate; DC residents push back on natural gas infrastructure build-up a new law allows youth on Medi-Cal to consent to mental health treatment.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Former President Trump is injured but safe after an attempted assassination many condemn political violence. Democrats' fears intensify over Biden's run. And North Carolina could require proof of citizenship to vote.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Enticing remote workers to move is a new business strategy in rural America, Eastern Kentucky preservationists want to save the 20th century home of a trailblazing coal miner, and a rule change could help small meat and poultry growers and consumers.

NY lawmakers demand EPA dredge Hudson River again

play audio
Play

Friday, February 23, 2024   

New York lawmakers are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to keep dredging the Hudson River.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, asking him to accept findings the agency's earlier dredging efforts failed.

Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, dumped into the river by General Electric are still high, making the water hazardous for nearby municipalities using it as a primary drinking water source.

Ned Sullivan, president of the nonprofit Scenic Hudson, worries about the health effects of the chemicals.

"It is associated with cancer, neurological and respiratory disorders," Sullivan outlined. "The primary pathway for human exposure is eating fish. This is a big deal, because there are people who are continuing to subsist on Hudson River fish."

The EPA has warned against eating fish caught in the river between Troy and Hudson Falls. An assessment by the group Friends of a Clean Hudson River found current sediment recovery rates will not allow for natural recovery in fish. General Electric completed two of three sediment collection programs last year. A third program, to collect deeper samples, takes place this year.

Other agencies have accepted the dredging failed. In 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported General Electric did not do enough dredging. Sullivan contended the primary reason previous efforts failed is they were not extensive enough.

"Even before the cleanup was undertaken, it was known and public that there was roughly twice the amount of contamination that the cleanup plan was based on," Sullivan pointed out.

Once the EPA accepts the findings, the agency can examine different options for remediating the river, which will most likely be more dredging. However, Sullivan added it could change with emerging technologies.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
"I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin," wrote Former President Donald Trump on social media. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Social Issues

play sound

Gov. Spencer Cox is calling for unity as well as the condemnation of political violence in light of the assassination attempt on former President …


Environment

play sound

Last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee heard testimony on the state and federal response to the collapse of the Key Bridge…

Environment

play sound

Forecasters are warning New Englanders to prepare for an "above-normal" number of hurricanes this summer. Hurricane Beryl was already the strongest …


Line 5, an Enbridge pipeline that was built in 1953, runs for 645 miles from Wisconsin, under the Straits of Mackinac, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. (Jorge Moro/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Michigan environmental group is addressing an appeal challenging the state's decision to approve the enclosure of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline…

Social Issues

play sound

Civil rights groups are sounding the alarm about potential threats to American democracy posed by Project 2025, a roadmap created by the Heritage …

In a 2024 report from the National Education Association, South Dakota ranked 49th in the U.S. for average teacher salary, at about $53,000 a year. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A coalition of South Dakota groups is voicing its opposition to a ballot measure intended to end a state sales tax on consumables. If passed this …

Social Issues

play sound

North Dakota officials will highlight a new project today to boost childcare access for parents with nontraditional work hours. A local provider …

Social Issues

play sound

With just over a month before Indiana university students return, a new law affecting college professor tenures is in full effect. The law targets …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021