WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- General Electric Co. must remove more of the chemicals fouling the Hudson River in New York instead of capping sediments, federal regulators said Friday.
The Environmental Protection Agency released new standards for the second phase of the cleanup north of Albany, The New York Times reported. GE would only be able to cap 11 percent of the area and would have to follow more restrictive dredging practices.
The company dumped polychlorinated biphenyls, usually known as PCBs, into the Hudson until 1977.
GE is scheduled to resume work on the cleanup in May. In the first phase, it cleaned up a 6 mile stretch of the river, capping more than one-third of the area, while the second phase covers 40 miles upstream from Troy to Hudson Falls.
Mark Behan, a GE spokesman, said the company plans to review the EPA plan. The deadline for a challenge is Jan. 14.
"If we determine that the plan is consistent with our technical discussions with EPA, and it's based on sound science and it's feasible to achieve, GE expects to move forward with Phase Two," Behan said. UPI
