Tsakanin shekarar 1947 zuwa 1977, General Electric ya gurɓata kogin Hudson ta hanyar fitar da polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) yana haifar da lahani iri-iri ga namun daji da mutanen da ke cin kifi daga kogin. Sauran nau'o'in gurbatar yanayi da suka hada da gurbacewar Mercury da kuma garuruwan da ke fitar da najasa da ba a kula da su ba, sun haifar da matsala a kogin. Dangane da wannan gurbatar yanayi, masu fafutuka sun yi zanga-zangar ta hanyoyi daban-daban; misali, mawaki Pete Seeger ya kafa Hudson River Sloop Clearwater da Clearwater Festival don jawo hankali ga matsalar. Ƙarfafawar muhalli a duk faɗin ƙasar ya haifar da ƙaddamar da Dokar Tsabtace Tsabtace ta Tarayya a cikin shekarata 1972 da Dokar Kula da Abubuwan Guba na 1976. Gwamnatin tarayya ta ayyana gurɓataccen yanki na kogin, 200 miles (320 km) tsawo, azaman wurin Superfund a cikin shekarar 1984. An fara aiwatar da ayyukan gyare-gyare masu yawa a kan kogin a cikin shekarun 1970 tare da aiwatar da izinin zubar da ruwa da kuma rage yawan zubar da ruwa, da ayyukan kawar da ruwa, wanda ya ci gaba har zuwa karni na 21.