the housatonic river cleanup...the housatonic river cleanup p.l. defur, ph.d. esc, llc forum...
TRANSCRIPT
The Housatonic River
Cleanup
P.L. deFur, Ph.D.
ESC, LLC
Forum sponsored by
Housatonic River Initiative
HEAL, BEAT, B-L EC, HVA, Stop Dumps, BNRC, CitizensfPCBR
September 17, 2013
Tonight
www.erh.noaa.gov www.clu-in.org
Homepages.cae.wisc.edu Restoration.doi.gov
www.wikipedia.com
Tonight
Lessons from Leaving PCBs /
Persistent Contaminants in place
Kepone, James River, VA
PCBs, Hudson River, NY
PBBs, Pine River, MI
Dioxins, Tittawabassee, MI
Continued Kepone Contamination
Green shading represents present Kepone fish consumption advisory
James River Basin
The residents of Saginaw Co., MI live with the contamination left behind
Photo by P L deFur 2009
Photo by P L deFur 2009 www.fws.gov
www.fws.gov
Pine River, St. Louis MI, park in foreground,
Velsicol site across the river.
Photo P L deFur 2009
The original plan failed
Fish [chemicals] rose
Sediment removal
required
Coffer dam in middle of
river
PBBs, DDT, more than
12 other chemicals
Velsicol Chemical Site
St. Louis, MI
Photo P.L. deFur 2013
This landfill in Nassau, NY
contains PCB wastes from GE
that are leaking into the
groundwater
•1952 first waste
•1974 first cover
•1980 first remediation
Dewey Loeffel Landfill
Timesunion.com
www.timesunion.com
Historic photo courtesy of the Fort Edward Historical Association: A B&W photo of the Fort
Edward dam during reconstruction in 1949.
When the Ft.
Edward dam on the
Hudson R. was
removed, acres of
PCB contaminated
sediment remained,
then capped but
continue to leach
into the Hudson R.
Lessons
MNR does not work
Capping is uncertain at best
Leach
Leak
Erosion
Animals and plants disrupt
Natural disasters
Expensive
Weku.fm
Weblogs.baltimoresun.com
Leaving contaminants
Forever is a long time
Maintenance
Inspections
5 year reviews
Fish sampling
Expensive- who will pay:
GE, EPA, NY state?
Robertarood.wordpress.com
Landfills
Rocky Mountain Arsenal on-site hazardous waste landfill
www.rma.arny.mil
Hill 78 disposal of PCB wastes in Pittsfield
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/opca-photos.html
Removal works
Spokane R WA
Fox R WI
Lake Champlain, NY
Milwaukee River
Waterplanet.ws
Spokane River
Before and following restoration in West Virginia www.dep.wv.gov
Lessons and experience from river and stream
restoration around the country and world
Repairing a River?
Fairfax Co. VA www.TVA.com
From Tennessee to Northern Virginia
Restoring shoreline and vegetation on the Hudson River post dredging –
photo by P.L. deFur 2011
www.threeforksranch.com
www.parsonshurdles.co.uk
Efforts around the
nation and the world
under many conditions
provide a wealth of
information and tools.
New tools and methods
Biological
Bacteria
Bio Tech
Activated carbon
Phytoremediation
Washing, chemical oxidation
News-service.stanford.edu
Rydberg.biology.colostate.edu
Resources
http://www.doi.gov/restoration/index.cfm
http://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/
http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/restore/ind
ex.cfm
http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/
http://www.ser.org/ Soc. for Ecol. Restoration
Questions?