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EPA Releases Phase 2 Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report For the Hudson River PCB Reassessment

Release Date: 02/19/1997
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(#97061) New York -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today releases its Phase 2 Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report (DEIR) for the Hudson River PCBs Reassessment. The information contained in the DEIR, along with the findings of the other five Phase 2 Reports will Give EPA a full portrait of the PCB problem in the upper Hudson River. The report released today must be viewed as one component of the entire study. No conclusions regarding a remedy should or will be based on this report alone.

The conclusions presented in the Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report are based primarily on direct geochemical analyses of the data, using conceptual models of PCB transport and environmental chemistry, and will be complemented and verified to the extent possible by additional analysis via a computer simulation. The analyses presented in the Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report lead to four major conclusions:

1. The area upstream of the Thompson Island Dam represents the primary source of PCBs in the freshwater Hudson. This area includes the GE Hudson Falls and Ft. Edward facilities, the Remnant Deposit area and the sediments of the Thompson Island Pool;

2. The PCB load from the Thompson Island Pool (TIP) has a readily identifiable homologue pattern ("fingerprint"). The PCBs present in the water column from the Thompson Island Dam to Kingston during low flow are dominated by the TIP "fingerprint";

3. The PCB load from the Thompson Island Pool originates from the sediments within the Thompson Island Pool, and

4. PCBs in sediment are not significantly naturally "remediated" via dechlorination. The extent of dechlorination is limited, typically resulting in less than 10 percent loss from the original concentrations.

The Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report (DEIR) is the third of six volumes that make up the full Phase 2 Report. Prior to the DEIR, EPA released the Phase 2 Database Report in November 1995 (the data itself is available on CD-ROM) and the Preliminary Model Calibration Report in October 1996. Still to be released are the Baseline Modeling Report; the Human Heath Risk Assessment and the Ecological Risk Assessment.

EPA will hold a Joint Liaison Group meeting to discuss the Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report on Wednesday, February 19, 1997 at 7:30 p.m., at he Marriott Hotel, located at 189 Wolf Road in Albany, New York.

The Phase 2 Data Evaluation and Interpretation Report is available for public review at the information repositories listed in the attachment. Public comments on the report should be sent to EPA by close of business April 11, 1997, to the attention of Doug Tomchuk, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, 29th floor, New York, NY 10007, att: DEIR Comments.

For more information contact:
Ann Rychlenski, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3672 FAX: 212-637-4445 E-Mail: [email protected]