The Hudson River

Introduction

Originating in the Adirondack Mountains, the Hudson River for 315 miles through New York to New Jersey. The river forms a 21 mile border between the two states. Named after explorer Henry Hudson, the river would become a major trade route that would play a significant role in interstate and intrastate commerce.

Economic Significance

In 1797 the river underwent navigational improvements that would help open the way to the river becoming a significant trade route. In the 19th century, the openings of the Erie Canal, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and the Champlain Canal, would link the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and lower St. Lawrence river valleys, giving way to its declaration as a federal government waterway in 1892.

Prior to its rise as an industrial center, Troy acted as the transshipment point through which meat and vegetables from Vermont would be sent via the Hudson to New York City. During its time as an industrial city, Troy used the Hudson to send processed ore and coal from the Midwest down to New York City.

PCB Contamination

During a 30 year period up between 1947 and 1977, when PCB production was banned by the EPA, approximately 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were dumped into the Hudson River by two General Motors capacitor manufacturing plants in Fort Edwards and Hudson Falls, New York. In 1983, the site was proposed as a Superfund site, and would be officially listed in 1984. 200 miles of the river, between Hudson Falls and the Battery in New York City would be placed on the EPA's National Priorities List, becoming one of the biggest Superfund sites in the United States to this day. Studies determined that the majority of the contaminated hot spots were located in a 40 mile stretch between the town of Fort Edward and Troy's Federal Dam. River contamination has been reported in the Troy area and beyond.

Hudson River Cleanup

In 1997, the NOAA and other trustees initiated a natural resource damage assessment before inviting submission of restoration project proposals. In 2006, an agreement would be reached that would see General Motors oversee a mass cleanup of the river. Between 2009 and 2015, under the terms of this agreement, dredging of river bottom sediment would occur in two phases. Phase 1 would be a year long, during which approximately 283,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment would be removed in a 6-mile section of the upper Hudson river. Phase 2 would begin in June 2011, and would consist of 2.5 million cubic yards the river being dredged over six seasons. Approximately 2.75 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment would ultimately be removed. On the EPA's Phase 2 Overview Factsheet, the area between the two locks of the Federal Dam in the area of Rensselaer County would be targeted for cleanup as index frames 12 and 13. Today, monitoring of various aspects of the river and aquatic life is being conducted. Fishing advisories are currently in place that see fishing in the area of Troy, NY highly advised against, with advisories calling for absolutely no consumption of fish caught from the river. It is advised only to catch and release any fish caught in the Troy area of the Hudson River today.

References

[1] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, February 28). Hudson River. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Hudson-River

[2] Wikipedia contributors. (2023, April 8). Troy, New York. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:53, April 17, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troy,_New_York&oldid=1148786364

[3] Hudson River Cleanup | US EPA. (2022, September 13). US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/hudsonriverpcbs/hudson-river-cleanup

[4] Hudson River | Hazardous Waste | Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program. (n.d.). https://darrp.noaa.gov/hazardous-waste/hudson-river#:~:text=The%20Hudson%20River%20PCBs%20site,from%20the%20upper%20Hudson%20River

[5] Riverkeeper. (2023, March 21). Hudson River PCBs - Riverkeeper. https://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/stop-polluters/pcbs/

[6] Hudson River & Tributaries Region Fish Advisories. (n.d.). https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/fish/health_advisories/regional/hudson_river_and_tributaries.htm