To Dredge Or Not To Dredge

To dredge or not to dredge, that is the question. For many of the folk’s around these parts, that has been in the news for a long while. A real long while. For you out of town readers, and for those locals who either don’t care anymore, or have since lost an opinion, let me bring you up to speed. General Electric (GE), in one of their many manufacturing processes used PCB’s in plants who dumped their waste effluent into the Hudson River from upstream of Albany, perfectly legally at the time mind you, decades ago. This was before any regulation was in affect, and when it was regulated, held valid permits for the discharge. GE stopped the release of PCB’s into the river in the 1970’s after the manufacturing of the cheap insulator was banned. In 1984, the United States Department of Environmental Protection Agency declared the stretch of the river a Superfund site. After a decade or so of heming and hawing, writing and rewriting useless regulations on what to do about it, and a vibrant effort by GE to leave the PCB’s where they were, an agreement was reached to remove the “toxins” from the river bottom. The process of dredging, a long established method of widening or deepening a navigation channel, is a messy, noisy, cost deficient process. This is not to even mention the side cost of the dewatering facility, the transportation and disposal of the sludge, and countless dollars to repair infrastructure due to the deterioration of roadways and related costs. And many times, you are moving one pile of dirt from one place to another. You are also suspending solids into the flowing river, just to land in a place downstream where it was otherwise untouched. But GE signed an agreement, on an agreed upon methodology, with pre-determined areas to dredge. They did it, and now they’re done with it. NOW, while GE is beginning to de-mobilize from the project, that they agreed to do, and under the watchful eye of the EPA, DEC, NSA, FBI, or the Hudson River Police, they are under fire to do additional work to dredge portions of the Champlain Canal. All well and good. Someone decided that the canal is still a shipping channel, and is not able to be navigated by commercial vesssels. I am just expressing my opinion on this, but, I don’t think the channel is much more than a expressway for pleasure boats. And if the party’s that may be want to dredge said channel, let them negotiate, with GE for additional cost before they dismantle — which they have ever right to do — the operation in Fort Edward. I am sure that the folks of that community would be glad to see them go. I am not bashing the beauty of the river that we call The Hudson. But enough is enough. GE’s bean counters are still sorting out the bills. When all this PCB discharging was occuring, there were people up and down the river dumping whatever into it. That is a fact. Anyone who has spent most of a lifetime living in Albany will affirm that the river is in a lot better state than it was 15 years ago.……….Just to talk about local stuff for a moment. To my 15th Ward Councilman Frank Commisso, Jr. I know I have treated you unfairly in some previous blogs, but if you want to take on our illustrious Kathy in the next election, I can’t see anyone in your way. I follow your input in our government, and respect your views on finance, and leadership.……….Good job on the traffic cameras Mayor. If we keep his up, we’ll add to the deficit. Follow me on Twitter @jonmazur