The Hudson River's Pcb Controversy

for early settlers. New York City was a channel made the river navigable to Al- backwater development compared to bany, with a tidal range of about four feet Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, until (1.2 m.) all the way to Troy. These condi- the Iroquois were pushed out of the tions made the Hudson and Mohawk Mohawk Valley in 1779 under orders from valleys very attractive to industrial devel- Gen. George Washington. At that time opment. New York City had a population of about Consequently, industry sprang up in 7,000 people. small towns and cities, enjoying the ben- With the gateway to the Great Lakes efits of abundant water and water trans- region now open, New York City became portation in upstate New York. It was in the intermediate destination for Europe- two tiny towns on the upper Hudson ans searching for new land. They came River that General Electric built two THE HUDSON through the harbor, went up the Hudson plants, one each at Fort Edward and Valley either by boat or by land and fol- Hudson Falls. RIVER’S PCB lowed the Mohawk Valley to the fertile The first PCBs were used in the Fort lowlands around Lake Ontario and Lake Edward plant in 1947 and at Hudson Falls CONTROVERSY Erie. By 1800, New York City itself had in 1952 to produce electrical capacitors A major controversy rages in New grown to 60,000 people, quickly out-dis- and transformers. PCBs are compounds York about the famous Hudson River. tancing its eastern seaboard competitors. of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals. Appar- For nearly 30 years, General Electric plants Glaciation and glacial meltwater ently, GE’s industrial processes at these in two towns along the river polluted it carved the Mohawk and Hudson valleys. plants released PCBs into the upper with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Between 2 million and 10,000 years ago, a Hudson River. Now the Environmental Protection continental glacier originating from An estimated 1.3 million pounds Agency (EPA) wants to clean up the PCB Hudson Bay scoured the Hudson Valley (590,200 kg.) were discharged into the residues at an estimated cost of $460 mil- as it rode southward over Canada and the river according to the New York Times lion. northern United States. (Mar. 4). Although most is gone, having Normally, the issue of whether to As the glacier melted and its front been absorbed into the tissues of fish and clean up a dangerous pollutant retreated northward, the retreating gla- humans or washed out to sea, an estimated 100,000 pounds (45,400 is not in question. This time, how- Troubled Waters Run Deep ever, the question is complicated kg.) remain on the bottom of by the location and distribution the Hudson lurking in chan- A Lake nel sediments. of the pollutant, the Hudson A D Champlain VT A N EPA wants to dredge River’s hydrology and use and a C Tear-of- public relations campaign by the-Clouds PCBs from polluted hot spots along 40 miles (64 km.) of the General Electric. Lake Ontario Hudson Falls The Hudson River was a Fort Edward Hudson River channel Mo downriver to Albany. GE, on pristine river when Henry hawk R Erie Canal Syracuse . Hudson sailed into its mouth in Lake Buffalo the other hand, is waging a Erie Albany Troy 1609. Although Italian Giovanni major and costly public rela- . MA tions campaign and legal ef- da Verranzano first reached it in R n o fort to counter EPA’s decision. 1524, the river was named for s d Henry Hudson. The lower course PA u CT GE expresses concern that H of the river flows down a rela- the dredging process may tively straight and narrow north- NJ again suspend the PCP mol- New York City south valley much like ecules and perhaps increase Germany’s Rhine River. Conse- 0 50 mi their threat downstream. EPA scientists contend that the quently, the Hudson was some- Geography in the News 04/06/010 50 km ©2001 maps.com times called the Rhine of PCBs currently remain a threat America. cier served as a dam, blocking meltwater and only their removal will solve the prob- The Hudson arises high in the from flowing out through the St. Lawrence lem. Adirondacks in northern New York in a Valley. The meltwater’s only escape route According to the New York Times, lake called Tear-of-the Clouds at 4,322 was eastward through the Mohawk Val- it’s not about the money. GE’s motives feet (1,317 m.) above sea level. Flowing to ley and southward through the Hudson may be partly damage control and partly the southeast, then to the south, the river Valley. Huge amounts of meltwater wid- a challenge to EPA. Whether GE’s inter- is joined by the Mohawk River at Albany. ened the Mohawk Valley and flowed pretation of the science involved in the The Hudson’s total length is 306 miles through the narrower, glacially scoured cleanup will hold water may await court (492 km.) from its origin to New York City lower Hudson Valley. rulings and public opinion. and New York Harbor and is navigable These physical processes left the And that is Geography in the News. by large ships upstream to Albany. Mohawk Valley with wide and gentle April 6, 2001. #566. terrain suitable for building the Erie Ca- The north-south Hudson and east- (The author is a Professor of Geography nal paralleling the Mohawk River. The west Mohawk valleys combined to pro- at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.) vide a gateway to the continental interior glacier’s deepening of the Hudson River’s © 2001 maps.com.

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