Document vBd3Gp04Q8kYV97vOeXXzNRBq

IIHACA, N. Y. aJOUiMRNAuL OCT 2 61977 get [Landfills damaging river . fhli ft tho ooeonp of throo ortictox million towards restoration of the Hudson **id, "They blew up the dim and much of obout pollution in tho Hudson Mvdf -- a quarter of that foj* raaearch, and the 1j the sediment behind the dam began to ByJlMDETJEN . reet a lump wm damage* payment. v move downstream. It was extremely coo* ; 1 Oaaaett Newa Service > Most of the research will be on bow to laminated with PCBs." - I IheOeneraUBleetrle Company stopped restore the upper Hudson. . The situation wasn't helped when a dumping pfiBe (polychlorinated The Department W Environmental spring flood In 1976 washed more sedl* biphenyls) Into the Hudson River on July Conservation will kick in $S million ter ment over the Federal Dam at Troy. 1st. ' " restoration costa, once the beat oourse la " Other, more exotic posalbilitles besides. The MnnontoChymlcal Coro., the decided..'. -! dredging are being considered. . country's sole manufacturer of the toxic There are supposedly tU.OOO pounds of One Is the use of activated carbon, Industrial chemical, is planning to halt all PCBs ln the upper Hudson alone, and It which has the ability to abeorb PCBs. national production of the substance on may cost ns much ns ftt million to Battelle-Northwest Laboratories of Oct. II. remove them. . ' Richland, Wash, la currently using ac > IV Environmental Protection Agency "If that's the case, 1 fed the money Uvated carbon to remove Kepone, anoth- (EPA) will prohibit the discharges of this should be spent to do 11," Mid Dr. Leo er highly toxic organic chemical, from long-Uved organic compound into all wa- Hetling, director of the Bureau of Water the James River In Virginia. Battelle has terways after next Feb. I. Research. "After all,' we have spent suggested using a belt-type system, The PCB problem must be over. Right? billions constructing sewage treatment pulled behind a barge, to abeorb tbe PCBs Wrong. ' plants. Can't we spend QOmllion, if need from the aediment. Officials at both the EPA and the state be, to restore tbe Hudson?" , \ . This technique has been practical so far - Department of Environmental Conserve- Hetling thinks tbe stele "should have* only in removing PCBs from municipal tton acknowledge the problem la far from pretty good handle on what we should do'*' water supplied. - . ever. U may be getting worse., . by 1978. .> One of the most Intriguing possibilities .' - h Dredging, seen as Ike leading con-Involves the use of discarded automobile At least It landfills throughout New ; tender for removing tbe heavily-coo- Urea. > York state are known to be leaching PCBs laminated sediments Irom the upper' According to one engineering company, into the environment, according to Rut- Hudaon, gained favor af a method after a old shredded tires are capable of aboorb- aell Ml. Pleasant, director of the state's previous brainstorm to let fish "harvest" Mg heavy metals from stormwater mn- Bureau of Monitoring and Surveillance. the PCBs fell through. < . . ; , off. . The state's DMson of Pure Waters . Fish concentrate PCBi la their tissues'. Since discarded tires are readily avail- reports "Millions of pounds of PCBs lie In to such a great extent tint state officials able in large quantities, tbe idea teems sa state in their capacitor coffins in the Ft. thought it might be possible to remove economic one. Edward landfill, already beginning to 1 PCBs by simply rapturing enough oon-NEXT: Logoi pollution . migrate In the leachate as rusting re- , laminated fish. . ' teases them. In contrast, the Hudson "But we found (or evsry 10 pounds of River sediment may oonteln about 800,000 J*CBs you would removs, you'd have to pounds of PCBs in total." ' harvest one.million poults of fish," Rati- Tests by the EPA last December found tng Mid. "Then you'd hive to figure out surprisingly high contamination levels of .' what to do with the flshj' . ..- FCB's as far south as Westchester Ooun- 1 : ty. Among the more highly contaminated IVagicaUy, it was a decision made by areas were shallow bays near the Tappao the Department of Emfronmental Con- See Bridge, Foundry Cove near Cold servatlon that may hare caused con-: Spring, SiugerUee, and near Albany. laminated sediment to move Into the. The EPA estimates during the next few lower Hudson River. ' ! decades, the amount of PCB* In fee In the early 1970% the Niagara environment will iocraqae by m times -- Mohawk Power Corp- Uked both, the from currant esfiihttes ef 180 mllUqn ' state and the Federal PoOerCemmiMeo pounds to MO million pounds. Even throw- for permission to removt a 506-foot-feBg Ing out carbonless carbon paper releases dam acroes the Hudson It Port Edward ' PCp into U* environment. ~ , . , which had been used to generate hydroelectric power. I General Electric has agreed to halt the Both agencies agreed. 1 . PCB dumping, and also to contribute M. ' "It was e real Mundq," Dr. Hetling MONS 000901