GE says tunnels, wells effective in PCB operation

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

General Electric Co. has told state regulators that a series of wells and tunnels designed to keep PCB-contaminated groundwater from seeping into the upper Hudson River appears effective and should continue operation.

The tunnel system went online at GE’s Hudson Falls site in May 2009 and is separate from the Superfund dredging project now being performed on the upper Hudson. But both of the GE-funded projects are designed to rid the river of PCBs.

The site north of Albany includes more than 200 wells to pump up ground water and 10-foot diameter tunnels arrayed in a giant “X” about 80 feet beneath the river. A spokesman for Fairfield, Conn.-based GE says the company has proposed to the Department of Environmental Conservation continuing the well-and-tunnel system with some minor modifications.