CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN LEADS 15 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN URGING EPA ADMINISTRATOR LEE ZELDIN TO RULE ADDITIONAL HUDSON RIVER PCB CLEANUP IS NEEDED

Congressman Pat Ryan Leads 15 Members of Congress in Urging EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to Rule Additional Hudson River PCB Cleanup is Needed

General Electric discharged millions of pounds of toxic PCBs into the Hudson River over 3+ decades

Push follows the EPA’s December 2024 Five Year Review (FYR) deferring protectiveness decision, despite the review falling in line with the organization’s original timeline

Congressman Ryan has said that the deferral is “kicking the can down the road” for GE to avoid having to invest in additional clean-up procedures for the Hudson

KINGSTON, NY  –  Today, Congressman Pat Ryan continued his fight to protect the Hudson River, leading 15 colleagues from New York and New Jersey in urging former New York Congressman and current EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to rule that additional PCB clean-up is needed in the river. Specifically, they are calling on the EPA to begin the addendum process immediately and issue a “not protective determination,” Over three decades, General Electric dumped millions of pounds of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River, causing mass pollution and disruption to the river’s ecosystem. Samples taken from the river since the cleanup concluded in 2015 continue to demonstrate that the cleanup has failed to achieve PCB concentration benchmarks within a timeframe established by the EPA. 

“For decades, General Electric has put their profits ahead of the health and safety of Hudson Valley families, and nobody knows that as well as our fellow New Yorker, Administrator Lee Zeldin. The time for talking is over; the time for action is now,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “For our communities, for the over one-hundred thousand of my constituents who rely on the Hudson for drinking water, we are urging the Administration to right this historic wrong and rule that General Electric must resume further clean-up immediately.” 

“For over three decades, General Electric endangered countless lives by dumping millions of pounds of PCBs in the Hudson River. These carcinogenic forever chemicals continue to remain at dangerous levels in fish and waterways across the Hudson River and NYC area,” said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “The government and large corporations have an obligation to make sure this water is clean. I’m proud to join Congressman Ryan and my colleagues in demanding EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin mandate General Electric to immediately resume clean-up of the Hudson River.”

“Riverkeeper is deeply disappointed that the EPA continues to ignore the overwhelming evidence that the cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson River is failing to protect human health and the environment,” said Tracy Brown, President of Riverkeeper. “The data is clear — PCB contamination remains at dangerous levels, yet the EPA insists on kicking the can down the road rather than taking necessary action to safeguard our communities. The Hudson and the people who depend on it cannot afford more delays. The EPA must acknowledge the reality of this failed cleanup and take decisive action to put the Hudson on a real path to recovery — anything less is an abdication of responsibility. We thank the members of Congress who have joined our efforts to ensure the EPA does the right thing for the Hudson River and urge Administrator Zeldin to work with our representatives to get the cleanup right.”

"For years, the data has increasingly pointed to one inescapable conclusion: the cleanup has failed. We do not need more data. Instead, we ask EPA to acknowledge that PCB contamination remains dangerously high and that the cleanup fails to meet the fundamental Superfund standard: “protective of human health and the environment,’” said Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan. “We thank Congressmen Ryan and Lawler for their leadership on this important issue, and we join them in asking Administrator Zeldin and Regional Administrator Mike Martucci to take this opportunity to finally provide relief to the millions of people and the many businesses alongside the Hudson River.”

“Fortunately, the addendum process allows EPA to act now rather than waiting another five years. We ask EPA to begin work on the addendum immediately, analyze the data for 2023 and 2024, and release its decision this year,” said Pete Lopez, Executive Director of Scenic Hudson. “EPA leadership at this time can provide a boost in fortune to communities and businesses along the Hudson River.”

Ryan’s letter was joined by:

• Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
• Congressman Daniel Goldman (D-NY)
• Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
• Congressman George Latimer (D-NY)
• Congressman Michael Lawler (R-NY)
• Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY)
• Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY)
• Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
• Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
• Congressman Josh Riley (D-NY)
• Congressman Thomas Suozzi (D-NY)
• Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY)
• Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY)
• Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)

With data consistently indicating that PCB levels in the Hudson River have not reached protectiveness status, Congressman Ryan has been pushing for additional resources. In April he sent a letter to then-EPA Administrator Michael Reagan urging the EPA to release a “non-protective” report and have GE invest in additional clean-up. 

Ryan has built a record of fighting for clean water for Hudson Valley families, often taking on big corporations who pollute the Hudson River. Ryan introduced the Hudson River Protection Act to permanently ban dangerous barges from anchoring in the Hudson River and discharging toxic pollutants into the River. The bill recently passed in the House of Representatives. Last year, Ryan organized a coalition of local government officials, community leaders, and organizations to temporarily halt the Coast Guard’s plan to begin allowing barges to anchor on the Hudson River.

The full text of the letter to EPA Administrator Zeldin can be found below: 

Dear Administrator Zeldin,

As members of Congress proudly representing communities along the Hudson River and New York Harbor, we write regarding the Hudson River Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Superfund Site. As you know, in January, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally issued its third five-year review (FYR) report of the cleanup, which issued a “protectiveness deferred” determination. We wholeheartedly disagree with this conclusion and believe the EPA has enough scientific evidence to reasonably conclude that the cleanup has failed to protect both human health and the environment. As the newly confirmed EPA Administrator, and as a New Yorker, we respectfully request EPA to issue a “not protective” determination in the forthcoming addendum to the third FYR. To that end, we strongly urge EPA to promptly examine the 2023 and 2024 data, which has already been collected, and make the finding that the cleanup fails to meet the protectiveness standard as the conclusion of the “addendum” before the end of the calendar year. 

The Hudson River PCB Superfund Site is one of our nation’s largest and oldest federal cleanup sites. For 30 years, General Electric (GE) knowingly discharged PCBs into the upper Hudson River at the expense of our natural resources, environment, and public health. As you may know, PCBs are “forever chemicals” that bioaccumulate in nature and have been linked to cancer, reproductive health issues, and other serious health conditions. Evidence shows that far more PCBs remain in the river’s sediment post-dredging than originally estimated. The PCBs dumped by GE are present at unacceptably high levels across the Hudson River ecosystem in nearby soil and sediment, in the living tissue of wildlife (from microorganisms to larger animals such as birds and fish) and periodically, suspended in the river’s water column or in the air posing a threat to everyone and everything that breathes. 

We have been closely following the cleanup progress of the superfund site for years and many of us wrote to the previous EPA Administrator and Region 2 Director in anticipation of the third FYR’s release.  Our constituents have suffered from the negative public health and economic consequences of living near a superfund site for nearly seventy years. The data is clear: fish and sediment concentrations have not been reduced as anticipated and cleanup benchmarks agreed to decades ago are being ignored. To that end, it is critical that EPA begin the addendum process as soon as possible and examine the 2023 and 2024 data. Presuming it confirms the prior data that the remedy is failing, we urge you to make a finding that the cleanup fails to meet the standard of protective of human health and the environment. We respectfully urge you to take these steps and make a finding by the end of this calendar year. 

The recovery of our beloved Hudson River is dependent on your administration changing course, acknowledging the available data, and issuing a “not protective” determination in the upcoming addendum to the third FYR.

cc :        Mike Martucci, Administrator, Region 2 USEPA

Sincerely,

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