The main phase of a massive dredging project designed to rid the upper-Hudson River of PCBs is under way.
General Electric Co. says two dredges began operations in the river about 40 miles north of Albany at Fort Edward early today. The start of the second phase of dredging has been delayed for weeks because of high water levels in the rain-swollen river.
Fairfield, Conn.-based GE, which released PCBs into the river decades ago, says dredging will start on a limited basis and gradually increase to 24 hours a day, six days a week through October.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency expects the Superfund project to take five to seven years.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were once used as coolants in electrical equipment and are a suspected carcinogen.
