This weekend I drove over the Hudson River a few times a bit north of the city en route to a golf tournament. While on Saturday I was unable to see the water from the bridge because of rain and haze, on Sunday I got a clearer look at the river. I was struck by how brown the water was, and was curious whether or not that meant that it was highly contaminated and filled with sediments. I remembered that the EPA had started a project to clean up the Hudson in the early 2000’s, and I went to the website after getting back to see what efforts had been made to try and clean up the River.

The Hudson originally became dirty because of two General Electric Plants (GE) that were discharging PCB’s into the water (Polychlorinated Biphenyls). PCB’s were banned by the EPA after this, and the section of the River where the plants were discarding the waste was noted as a highly contaminated zone.

The process to restore the Hudson to a cleaner environment is still enjoying; phase II of the project is currently underway, as the EPA looks to dredge the bottom of the River in sections to try and improve water flow and rid sections of sediment buildup.

More information can be found here: http://www3.epa.gov/region02/superfund/hudson/cleanup.html