skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 26, 2024

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

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

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
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

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