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EPA & General Electric Update Hudson Dredging Agreement

January 26, 2009 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the federal government has reached an agreement with the General Electric Company (GE) to modify a November 2, 2006 consent decree requiring the company to dredge portions of the Hudson River. The modification of the 2006 consent decree requires GE to pay a portion of the costs of protecting the Waterford, Halfmoon, and Stillwater, New York water supplies during dredging, and to improve its program for monitoring water quality and further protect the Waterford and Halfmoon water supplies.

Press Release | Attachment to Consent Decree Modification No. 1 [PDF 196K, 37 pp] | Consent Decree Modification No.1 [PDF 5 MB, 12 pp] | Consent Decree Fact Sheet [PDF 80K, 2 pp]

EPA and GE Sign Agreement on Upper Hudson Floodplain Sampling

September 11, 2008 -- EPA and GE have reached agreement on carrying out the Upper Hudson floodplain sampling program. The agreement, effective today and embodied in an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), provides for soil sampling at approximately 350 properties within the Upper Hudson floodplain. It is the first phase of a floodplains remedial investigation initially described in a letter to residents from EPA dated August 4, 2008. The agreement also requires GE to map human use and ecological use areas in those floodplain areas to identify areas where removal of contaminated soils may be needed. GE will pay for costs incurred by EPA in overseeing the work performed under this agreement.

Floodplain Agreement [PDF 1.5 MB, 30 pp] | Field Sampling Plan [PDF 194K, 50 pp] | Appendix A [PDF 9K, 1 pp] | Tables [PDF 21K, 5 pp]

Figures are Available Upon Request by Contacting Kris Skopeck at skopeck.kristen@epa.gov

Letter August 4, 2008 [PDF 167K,1 pp]

Final Floodplains Factsheet [PDF 36K, 3 pp]

EPA Orders Access To Construct Alternate Water Line for Hudson Dredging Project

September, 5 2008 - To ensure that contingencies are in place to protect drinking water supplies during Hudson River dredging, EPA today issued orders to the town of Halfmoon, New York and the Water Commissioners of the town of Waterford to gain access needed to construct a water line that will carry drinking water from Troy to Halfmoon and to the town of Waterford, New York. When constructed, the new water line will provide the towns with an alternate water source that would be available in the unlikely event that dredging causes violations of the health-based drinking water standard in the river.

Order Issued to The Town of Halfmoon [PDF 475K, 11 pp] | Order Issued to The Water Commissioners of the Town of Waterford [PDF 586K, 13 pp] | Press Release

 

Court Approves Hudson River Settlement
November 2, 2006 - Statement by Alan J. Steinberg, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator "The United States is pleased to announce that today, the landmark settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the General Electric Company (GE) for the Hudson River PCBs site was approved by Federal District Court Judge David N. Hurd. This allows the cleanup of the Hudson River to proceed. Under the approved Consent Decree, GE will construct a sediment transfer/processing facility in Fort Edward, NY and perform the first phase of the dredging of the PCB-contaminated river sediments, and may perform the second phase of the dredging as well. Now that the court has approved the Consent Decree, we can all look forward to seeing the benefits of cleaning up the Hudson River. EPA will continue to work with the affected communities and other stakeholders as the implementation of the remedy proceeds."

Hudson River LocksU.S. Seeks Court Approval on Dredging Agreement with GE

The Department of Justice and EPA asked the U.S. District Court in Albany, New York to approve the October 2005 consent decree with the General Electric Company for the river dredging called for in EPA's 2002 Record of Decision for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site.

News Release | Submission Requesting Entry of Consent Decree and Related Documents

The responses to the public comments received on the Consent Decree can be viewed by clicking here: http://www.hudsoncag.ene.com/approval.htm Exit EPA disclaimer

U.S. Seeks Court Approval on Dredging Agreement with GE

On May 16, 2006, the Department of Justice and EPA asked the U.S. District Court in Albany, New York to approve the October 2005 consent decree with the General Electric Company for the river dredging called for in EPA's 2002 Record of Decision for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site. News Release

Plantiff's Submission Requesting Entry of Consent Decree [PDF 10 KB, 3 pp]
Plaintiff's Memorandum In Support of Submission Requesting Entry of Consent Decree [PDF 2.5 MB, 59 pp]

Exhibits to Plaintiff's Memorandum In Support of Submission Requesting Entry of Consent Decree Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 1 - Comment of U.S. Rep. Sue W. Kelly Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 2 - Comment of U.S. Reps. Nita Lowey and Maurice D. Hinchey Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 3 - Comment of Eliot Spitzer. Attorney General of the State of New York Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 4 - Comment of Denise M. Sheehan, Commissioner, State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 5 - Comment of Town of Fort Edward (and associated entities) Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 6 - Comment of Friends of a Clean Hudson Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 7 - Comment of Scenic Hudson, Inc. Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 8 - Representative samples of letter Comments Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 9 - Executive Summary, Facility Siting Report (December, 2004) [PDF 2.5 MB, 24 pp]
Exhibit 10 - ROD White Paper - Socioeconomics, Page 1 [PDF 1.2 MB, 395 pp]
Exhibit 11 - The Times Union (Albany, NY) (February 15, 2006) Exit EPA disclaimer

Certificate of Service [PDF 7 KB, 1 pp]

Appendix A [Technical Responses to Comments] Exit EPA disclaimer

Appendix A Exhibits 1 through 22 Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibits 1-3 Exit EPA disclaimer

Exhibit 1 Pages 5-8 of Responsiveness Summary, Book 2 of 3, White Paper: Relationship Between Tri+ and Total PCBs Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 2 Map illustrating the three Hudson River Sections Exit EPA disclaimer
Exhibit 3 EPA Memorandum to the File (October 21, 2005) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 4 - Mulligan, John B., P.E., “Response to NOAA Comment Letter of October 18, 2005" (“Mulligan Memo”). Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 5 - Comments of EPA on the Intermediate Design Report (“IDR”) (November 1, 2005) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 6-1 - GE’s Response to EPA comments on the IDR (December 26, 2005) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 6-2 - GE’s Response to EPA comments on the IDR (December 26, 2005) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 7 - Trends in Upper Hudson River Sediment PCB Contamination Toward the Shoreline” (December 2005) (“GE Trends Report”) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibits 8-11: Exit EPA disclaimer

Appendix A Exhibits 12-14 Exit EPA disclaimer

Appendix A Exhibit 15-1 - GE’s March 21, 2006 draft Remedial Action Community Health and Safety Plan (“CHASP”) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibit 15-2 - GE’s March 21, 2006 draft Remedial Action Community Health and Safety Plan (“CHASP”) Exit EPA disclaimer
Appendix A Exhibits 16-22 Exit EPA disclaimer

DOJ, EPA Reach Agreement With General Electric to Conduct Hudson River Dredging (October 2005)

Taking another significant step toward cleaning up polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in the Hudson River, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reached an agreement with the General Electric Company (GE), requiring it to begin the dredging called for in EPA's 2002 Record of Decision for the Hudson River PCB's Superfund site. Under the terms of the consent decree lodged in federal district court in Albany, New York, GE will construct the sediment transfer/processing facility needed for the project and perform the first phase of the dredging according to design plans being developed under a prior agreement. The dredging is scheduled for the 2007 spring through fall dredging season. The agreement also calls for GE to pay EPA up to $78 million for the Agency's past and future costs. EPA has already collected $37 million from GE through past settlements.

The public comment period for the consent decree closed on December 14. As required by law, EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will carefully consider all public comments received on the consent decree, and will then make a decision about whether to ask the court to approve (enter) it. EPA and DOJ can elect not to seek entry of the decree if, based on the public comments, they determine that the proposed settlement is inappropriate, improper or inadequate. If the agencies make that determination and decide that changes to the consent decree are needed, the government would need to seek GE's agreement to those changes.

EPA will continue to keep the public fully informed at each step in the process as we move toward the dredging of the Hudson River.

News Release | Consent decree and its appendices | Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree

Design AOC (August 2003)

EPA has signed an agreement with General Electric Company (GE) to perform the project design work for the cleanup of PCB-contaminated sediment in the Hudson River. Under the agreement, embodied in an Free PDF reader available Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), GE will develop detailed approaches to removing sediment from the river bottom, transporting and disposing of the material, and replacing the habitat in dredged areas. The company will also pay up to $28 million in partial reimbursement of EPA’s past and future costs associated with the dredging project. The AOC was signed by EPA on August 13 and becomes effective on August 18, 2003.

The AOC covers the detailed design of the dredging project. It does not cover the performance of the actual dredging work itself. The AOC includes work plans for the design of the dredging work, baseline monitoring, cultural and archeological resources assessment, and habitat delineation and assessment.

EPA negotiates with potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to get them to address, in whole or in part, the PRPs' responsibility for a Superfund site. The large majority of Superfund disputes with the government are resolved through negotiated settlements, which may be written in the form of an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) or a judicial Consent Decree (CD).
News Release (09/2003)

Sampling AOC (July 2002)

General Electric Company (GE), the potentially responsible party at the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site, signed an AOC with EPA in Free PDF reader available July 2002 (referred to as the Sampling AOC) to fund and perform sediment sampling as the initial step in the design of the site cleanup (dredging project)....News Release (07/2002)

For information about this page, contact: kluesner.dave@epa.gov

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