Ecomagine That: GE Stalls on PCB Cleanup

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"The National Academy of Sciences would investigate the effectiveness of dredging PCB-contaminated sediment under a directive written largely by General Electric Co. and attached to a House of Representatives spending bill last week," reported the Poughkeepsie Journal. A GE spokesperson said, "We think the public and regulators will benefit from knowing more about these issues." But environmentalists and Senator Charles Schumer say the study would needlessly delay the cleanup of New York's Hudson River, which was contaminated by PCBs from GE plants in the 1970s. An Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said, "We have the data to prove [dredging] is the best thing for this river, for the environment, and for the communities here." GE's efforts to delay the Hudson River cleanup contrast with its recently launched $90 million pro-environmental PR and ad campaign, called "Ecomagination."