The results of the sampling will be used to improve EPA's understanding of
the Lower River and inform EPA's investigations moving forward. GE remains
legally responsible for its PCBs in the Hudson River, including the lower
portion of the river. EPA is continuing to evaluate whether others may also be
responsible for PCBs, as well as other contamination in the Lower Hudson.

The new data will supplement information collected during EPA's investigation
of the Lower Hudson River in the 1990s and GE's periodic monitoring of
Lower Hudson River fish and water since 2004. EPA has also been gathering
additional information and data about the Lower River in coordination with New
York State and other project stakeholders since 2019 to support these efforts.

Boat-based fish collection (netting)

Sampling Workplan

Under the terms of the legal agreement with EPA, GE developed a plan for extensive water, fish, and sediment sampling of
the Lower Hudson River. EPA approved the workplan and will oversee all of the work performed by GE and its contractors
under the plan.

Fish Tissue Sampling

The laboratory will measure PCB
concentrations from tissue samples of 14
species of fish and crab collected throughout
the Lower River. The stations will be located
approximately 30 miles apart. They will also
collect blue crabs from two of the monitoring
stations located closer to New York Harbor.

Beginning this spring, the General Electric Company (GE) will sample water,
fish and sediment as part of an investigation of the Lower River portion of the
Hudson River PCBs Superfund site under a legal agreement with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Lower Hudson River extends from the Troy Dam to the southern tip of
Manhattan bordering New York and a portion of New Jersey. Data collection
will focus on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), but other contaminants will
be evaluated as well.

Hudson River vista (Bear Mountain Bridge)

The Upper Hudson River is
freshwater and non-tidal.
The entire Lower River is a
tidal estuary which means
it is influenced by ocean tides, Because
the Lower River is tidal, it has distinctly
different characteristics, water flows and

Water Column Sampling

Field staff will sample the water to evaluate the concentration of PCBs and
other water quality indicators throughout the Lower River. This will help
EPA understand the relationship between water, fish, and sediment in the
Lower Hudson.

Field staff will collect water samples from five monitoring stations (Albany/
Troy, Cats kill, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Tappan Zee) on a monthly
basis beginning in June 2023. The program targets three freshwater
sampling stations and two brackish water stations (where fresh water is
mixed with salt water). After one year, EPA will evaluate the data collected
to determine where and how often to continue sampling.

EPA will evaluate the data after the first full round
of fish collection to determine if sampling at
additional locations is necessary.

Fish collection

652506

Preparing a Striped
Bass

White Perch


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Sediment Sampling Programs

Field staff will collect samples from different locations and ranges of depths of the river bottom to understand where
contamination is present and has deposited over time. The first sampling will take place in 2023. Field staff will collect three
different types of samples: recently deposited sediment, shallow sediment, and deep sediment samples.

Supplemental Sediment Coring

During the second round of sampling in 2024, GE will evaluate the
PCB concentrations using equipment that can take core samples
deeper into the river bottom, which will provide information about the
relationships among fish, water and sediment. As part of this program,
field staff will collect sediment using hollow tubes in the same areas
where they have collected fish. They will collect a total of 200 sediment
samples to a depth of three feet. The cores will be analyzed for PCBs
and other contaminants.

Recently Deposited Sediment

Field staff will collect the first round of samples in the top portion of river
sediment to evaluate PCB concentrations in sediment that has recently
deposited in the main stem of the Lower Hudson, as well as 12 major
tributaries. The results will be used to evaluate the natural recovery of
the Lower River over time.

Field staff will use a shallow sediment sampler to collect sediment
samples. In the main stem, they will take 30 to 50 samples of recently
deposited sediment, located approximately three to five miles apart.

In the each of the 12 major tributaries, they will take seven to ten
samples.

High Resolution Sediment Coring

In the third round of sampling, field staff will collect some even deeper
samples based, in part, on the results of the first two rounds, to further
evaluate how PCBs have deposited in the Lower River over time and to
evaluate the rate of recovery in the sediment.

Field staff will collect sediment cores from six initial locations spread
throughout the Lower Hudson at a depth of 4-8 feet below the river
bottom. Four of the six cores will be collected at the same locations
where high-resolution cores were collected in 1992. The laboratory will
analyze the samples for PCBs along the length of the core. After EPA
evaluates the data from the initial six locations, the agency will decide
whether additional cores are needed.

(Top and Bottom) Surface sediment sampling

Lower River Sampling and Investigations Schedule

2023

•	Water sampling

•	Fish/crab sampling

-	Sait and freshwater species

-	Migratory, local and forage
fish

-	Blue crab and eel

•	Recently deposited sediment
sampling

•	Evaluate data

2024

•	Water sampling (continued)

•	Fish/crab sampling

(continued)

•	Sediment sampling

-	Supplemental sediment
sampling

-	High resolution coring

•	Evaluate data

2025

•	Collect additional samples
as necessary to suport the
objectives and purpose of
the sampling work

•	Further data evaluation

•	Develop next steps

www.epa.gov/hudsonriverpcbs


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	 3

Site Background

Between the 1940's and 1970's, GE discharged PCBs into the Hudson River
from its two former manufacturing plants in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls,

New York. These PCBs impacted the river and its sediment from the GE
Hudson Falls plant to the New York Harbor, and certain areas of the floodplain
along the banks of the river during high water and flood events.

The Hudson River PCBs Superfund site includes the 200-mile stretch from
Hudson Falls to the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. EPA's 2002
cleanup plan addressed the sediment in the 40-mile stretch of the Upper
Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, New York. Under EPA oversight,

GE did extensive dredging and capped some areas in a 40-mile stretch of the
Upper Hudson River between 2009 and 2015.

EPA continues to monitor how the river is recovering after the dredging in the

upper portion and is evaluating PCB contamination in the Upper Hudson River floodplain. The investigation of the floodplain is
being done under a separate legal agreement with GE under EPA oversight.

The New York State
Department of Health's
(NYSDOH) fish
consumption advisories
remain in place throughout the Lower
Hudson River. More information about
the advisories is available on the
NYSDOH Hudson River Fish Advisory
Outreach Project webpaae.

For more information, contact the EPA Region 2 Hudson River Office
Additional information is also available on the EPA site webpaae.

To receive the latest news and updates, you can also sign up for
the EPA's Hudson River PCBs site email Listserv. To join the email
group, send an email to romanowski.larisa@epa.gov.

Larisa Romanowski, Public Affairs Specialist
Gary Klawinski, Project Director

EPA Region 2 Hudson River Office

187 Wolf Road, Suite 303, Albany, NY 12205

(518) 407-0400 or (866) 615-6490 Toil-Free

epahrfo@outlook.com

www.epa.aov/hudsonriverpcbs


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