General Electric Cleaning up the Hudson’s Dirty Past

The General Electric Company, who is responsible for the dumping of PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) into the Hudson River in the north-of-Albany region, has hired two contractors to develop an environmental dredging facility. The federal government recently mandated the Hudson River cleanup, which will cost GE over $700 million. Scientists believe PCBs are probable carcinogens, or cancer causing chemicals. The chemicals are used in production of electrical equipment. PCBs were dumped into the Hudson between 1940 and the mid-1970s at the General Electric Hudson Falls and Fort Edward plants, and have since washed downstream into the Lower Hudson Valley and as far south as Manhattan. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered GE to dredge out tons of PCBs from a 40-mile stretch of the Hudson River. This project is slated to become the largest and most expensive environmental dredging project and cleanup in the history of the United States. The project will begin Spring 2007. Read the article here.

Ferry’s Move to Main Street Approved

The Haverstraw – Ossining Ferry by New York Waterway and the future Haverstraw – Yonkers – Lower Manhattan Ferry by New York Water Taxi are soon to move to the end of Main Street in the Village of Haverstraw. The plans, refined during summer 2006, have been approved recently by local and state officials. M G McLaren Engineering Group is continuing to work out the details and technical plans of the ferries’ new docks and facilities. The NY Water Taxi service to Lower Manhattan, with service to Yonkers in between, is expected to begin in late spring at the existing Haverstraw Ferry Pier on Dr. Girling Drive in the Village of Haverstraw. There is no publicly known timeline for the Main Street ferry terminal project, although some guess that ferries will be mooring at the base of Main Street as early as 2008 or 2009.

Correction: The NY Water Taxi Ferry from Haverstraw to World Financial Center and Pier 11 Wall Street, with stopping service in Yonkers, is expected to begin on August 1, 2007. More information here.