GE, EPA Sign Agreement for Design of Dredging Project
Friday, May 23, 2003
GE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reached an agreement under which GE will design the environmental dredging project that EPA has chosen for the Upper Hudson River in New York State.
"This agreement is the next step in moving forward with implementation of EPA's decision to dredge the Hudson River," said Stephen D. Ramsey, GE's vice president of Corporate Environmental Programs.
Today's announcement marks the second major GE-EPA agreement on the Hudson River project. Under the first agreement last summer, GE began a two-year, $15-million river sediment-sampling program. "The dredging project will be designed using the results of the sampling program that GE is conducting under EPA's oversight," Ramsey said.
As part of the new agreement, GE also will reimburse EPA an additional $15 million for past costs associated with EPA's Hudson River PCBs reassessment, and provide the agency with up to $13 million more to cover future costs related to this agreement. This brings to $20 million the amount GE has reimbursed EPA for past costs and to $15.6 million the amount GE has provided to EPA for future costs associated with the dredging project. EPA and GE have agreed to continue to discuss additional reimbursement.
GE's financial commitment to the EPA dredging project during the past year now comes to nearly $70 million, including the estimated $15 million cost of the remedial design program. This is in addition to the $230 million that GE has spent on Hudson River clean-up projects over the last 20 years.
The project will involve reviewing field data to plan where and how dredging should take place; what type of equipment should be used; how to move the dredged sediment from the river to dewatering facilities; and how to dispose of the dewatered sediment, among other issues. During this project, GE will submit about 30 reports to EPA on its work.
The second phase of GE's sediment sampling program in the Upper Hudson began on May 19, 2003. The company collected 5,000 sediment samples last fall and expects to collect 25,000 additional sediment samples by November 2003.
Contact: Mark Behan (518) 792-3856
