Guest Blog: Alan Steinberg

I am opening the floodgates to Alan Steinberg today. Alan, one of the most enthusiastic people I know, heads up EPA's Region 2 office in New York City.

When Henry Hudson said, “you cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren,” he might very well have been speaking about some of the challenges of the Superfund program.  Yet, despite the difficulties implicit in “making the polluter pay” – locating a solvent responsible party is among the greatest priorities – cleanups continue and progress is being made.

Why quote old Henry, you ask? Well, there’s a very real connection for many of us in EPA Region 2. You see, Henry’s namesake, the Hudson River, with all of its beauty and historic significance, with its majestic 300 or so miles, is one of the most contaminated waterways in the nation – and its cleanup has presented us with some very complicated challenges.

The river that travels almost the entire north to south length of New York State and forms a natural boundary between New York and New Jersey became one of America’s most important industrial waterways in the 19th Century.

Years of industrial activity took their toll, and today, the Hudson has the distinction of being one of the largest Superfund sites in the country. For about 30 years, up until 1977, the General Electric Company discharged as much as 1.3 million pounds of probable human carcinogens – polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – from its plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York into the river.

All of the elements of a typical Superfund challenge are here – substantial and sizable contamination over a long period of time; a large, diverse, and often vocal, community; a “high profile” potentially responsible party.

After years of negotiations, however, GE has begun an agreed upon cleanup process that takes into account the needs of the nearby communities as well.

Not long ago, I was in Fort Edward announcing a grant to help the town identify and fix environmental problems. I visited the dewatering facility for the dredging project, and as I watched a virtual town being built – the facility and associated buildings, new roads and railways – I couldn’t help thinking that this is the true purpose of the Superfund program – revitalizing the environment, revitalizing communities. 

Dredging will start in 2009, and the river will begin its recovery.  As fall merges into winter this year, and the colored leaves of the Adirondacks are reflected in the magnificent Hudson River, it isn’t that much of a stretch to imagine a cleaner and healthier river.

The future looks bright for Henry’s river – for the fish and water life that thrive in it and for the people who live along its banks and enjoy its bounty. I expect eagles and wrens alike will approve.

Comments

[endekii]

I had the chance to meet him 6 years ago, when he came here to Egypt.He is very smart and enthusiastic person.I would like to see him again, if he could remember his old colleague..