Spitzer Sues To End Stalemate On Hudson River Pcbs

In a move designed to break a decades-long stalemate on cleaning up the Hudson River, Attorney General Spitzer today announced a lawsuit that seeks to hold the General Electric Company responsible for some of the economic costs of pollution in the river.

The suit charges that PCB contamination is preventing the river from reaching its full potential as a commercial and recreational waterway, and is restricting economic development in certain areas of the state.

"With this initiative, we intend to bring an end to more than a quarter century of delay in addressing PCB contamination of the Hudson River," said Spitzer, noting that this is the first time the State of New York has sued GE for polluting the river.

Spitzer is filing a lawsuit in State Supreme Court charging that traffic on the navigable portion of the upper Hudson River -- the Champlain Canal -- is being restricted because of the inability of the state to dredge key sites south of Fort Edward and north of the Troy Dam. These sites are at or near "hot spots" where PCB contamination is most acute.

At these hot spots, the depth of the canal has been reduced significantly from the legally mandated 12-foot minimum. As a result, some commercial boats and large recreational craft cannot navigate the canal.

Spitzer's lawsuit would compel GE to pay for the additional dredging and disposal costs for the Champlain Canal -- estimated at more than 10 times the cost of removing and disposing uncontaminated sediment from other parts of the state canal system.

The extra costs are thought to exceed $10 million, but could prove to be much greater. Spitzer noted, however, that the dollar figure in the case was less important than the legal precedent it is expected to set -- establishing a clear link between the company and its responsibility to pay for the harm caused by PCB contamination.

The case could also lead to other similar suits. For example, municipalities throughout the region and downstream could advance suits to recoup their increased dredging costs. Private facilities such as marinas and riverfront businesses could do so as well, he said.

GE's preferred approach is to allow PCB-laden sediment to remain in the river, to be covered up by other sediment and to possibly degrade over time. This approach, however, leads to the problem noted in the lawsuit, which is that the inability to dredge parts of the river reduces its viability as a commercial and recreational waterway, and creates a clear economic cost.

Spitzer challenged GE to acknowledge its responsibility for increased dredging costs and other damages resulting from decades of PCB dumping.

The lawsuit by Spitzer will not interfere with any future action by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The lawsuit is being handled by Spitzer's Environmental Protection Bureau, headed by Bureau Chief Peter Lehner with assistant attorneys general Eugene Martin-Leff, Elisabeth Grisaru, Gordon Johnson, and environmental scientist Alan Belensz.