The EPA has estimated that the total possible loss of PCBs during the hydraulic dredging project would be 480 pounds of PCBs, equivalent to point two percent of the total dredged material. Considering that an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 pounds of PCBs wash over the Federal Dam at Troy every year, this is relatively small loss. As long as large amounts of the PCBs are concentrated in upper river sediments, they can be effectively removed from the river. However, as PCB contaminated sediments are scoured up from the river bottom and dispersed, it becomes impossible to recapture them. The longer the PCBs remain in the river, the greater the risk that a major flood could wash most of the PCBs into the lower river.
Action needs to be taken as soon as possible.
PCBs will not be removed from the Hudson River without two key things, political will and money.