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25 - Transport, Fate, and Bioaccumulation of PCBs in the Lower Hudson River
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- By Kevin J. Farley, Environmental Engineering Department, Manhattan College, James R. Wands, HydroQual, Inc., Darin R. Damiani, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District, Environmental Analysis Branch, Planning Division, Thomas F. Cooney III, Hazen & Sawyer
- Edited by Jeffrey S. Levinton, State University of New York, Stony Brook, John R. Waldman
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- Book:
- The Hudson River Estuary
- Published online:
- 06 January 2010
- Print publication:
- 09 January 2006, pp 368-382
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Summary
abstract A mass balance model was developed to examine the transport, fate, and bioaccumulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the Lower Hudson River. The model was applied to five (di- through hexa-) PCB homologues over a fifteen-year simulation period (1987–2002) and results compared well to observed PCB homologue concentrations in river sediments and fish. From model evaluations, we found that partitioning of PCBs to suspended solids appears to be largely controlled by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton production and subsequent decomposition of phytoplankton-derived material in sediments plays a particularly important role in scavenging PCBs from the water column and accumulating them in sediments. In addition, there is a continuous exchange of PCBs between the overlying water and surface sediments associated with settling of phytoplankton and other suspended organic matter, resuspension of sedimentary organic matter, and pore water diffusion of dissolved and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)-bound contaminant. These processes, along with the large capacity of sediments to store contaminants, work to sequester PCBs in sediments during periods of high contaminant loads and subsequently release them to the overlying water. This results in highly dampened responses of PCBs in water, sediments and fish in the mid estuary, and in “smearing” the effects of increased PCB loads from the Upper Hudson in the early 1990s. Model results clearly demonstrate that both the magnitude and distribution of PCBs in sediments and fish are strongly dependent on homologue-specific partitioning behavior (as expressed in terms of hydrophobicity and Kow values). Finally, the migration of striped bass also plays a critical role in limiting their exposure to PCBs in the mid estuary.
24 - PCBs in the Upper and Tidal Freshwater Hudson River Estuary: The Science behind the Dredging Controversy
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- By Joel E. Baker, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland, W. Frank Bohlen, University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences, Richard F. Bopp, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bruce Brownawell, Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Tracy K. Collier, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Kevin J. Farley, Environmental Engineering Department, Manhattan College, W. Rockwell Geyer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Rob Nairn, Baird & Associates, Lisa Rosman, Coastal Protection and Restoration Division
- Edited by Jeffrey S. Levinton, State University of New York, Stony Brook, John R. Waldman
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- Book:
- The Hudson River Estuary
- Published online:
- 06 January 2010
- Print publication:
- 09 January 2006, pp 349-367
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Introduction
From the latter 1940s until 1977, the General Electric Corporation (GE) discharged an estimated 200,000 to 1.3 million pounds (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000a) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River from two electrical capacitor manufacturing plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York (Fig. 24.1). In 1977, under a settlement agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, GE stopped direct discharges of PCBs to the river, although leakage of PCBs from the factory sites to the river continues to this day. PCBs used at the GE plants were oily liquids containing dozens of distinct PCB compounds. Most of these components are persistent in the environment, attach strongly to soils and river sediments, and readily accumulate in fish, wildlife, and humans (National Research Council, 2001a). These properties, combined with the large discharges of PCBs from the GE plants over 50+ years, have led to elevated levels of PCBs in the water, sediments, and biota of the Upper Hudson River (defined here as the stretch upstream of the Troy lock and dam). Levels of PCBs in the Hudson River ecosystem are among the highest in the United States.
PCB contamination in the Hudson River is a management problem for the public because it has likely increased human health risks (primarily from consumption of fish), increased ecological risks to fish and fish-eating birds and mammals, and caused losses of river use and the resulting economic impacts (catch and release only fishery; advisories on fish consumption; restrictions on navigational dredging limiting access to the Champlain Canal; restrictions on and the increased costs of dredging; and commercial fishery closure).