PCB Contamination of the Hudson River Ecosystem Compilation of Contamination Data through 2008.

摘要

The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees are conducting a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) to investigate natural resource injuries that may have occurred due to the release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from General Electric (GE) facilities at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, NY. This report summarizes available information on PCB contamination in the Hudson River ecosystem, including historic information, but focusing particularly on data collected and analyzed between 2002 and 2008 as part of ongoing NRDA activities. The Hudson River, for greater than 200 miles below Hudson Falls, NY, is extensively contaminated with PCBs. Surface waters, sediments, floodplain soils, fish, birds, wildlife, and other biota are all contaminated with PCBs. PCB concentrations are generally highest in those areas that are closer to the GE facilities, which are responsible for the majority of the areas PCB contamination. PCB concentrations tend to decrease with increasing distance downstream from these facilities. PCB concentrations upstream of the plant sites are substantially lower than the levels downstream. This report also compares PCB concentrations in environmental media to regulatory standards and guidance criteria as well as to effects thresholds from the scientific literature. The more frequently these levels are exceeded, and the greater the magnitude of the exceedance, the more likely it is that PCBs have injured the natural resource(s) in question.