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Hold GE Accountable for Hudson River Cleanup!

Target: Department of Justice
Sponsored by: Scenic Hudson

From now until December 14th, we have an historic opportunity to right a 30-year environmental wrong -- and your official public comment today is critical.

For 30 years, General Electric dumped more than 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River from their Hudson Falls and Fort Edward plants. More PCBs were used at these two facilities than at any other location nationwide, and the Hudson River remains the largest PCB Superfund site in the United States.

Signs posted along the Hudson river warn of the dangers of eating fish because of PCBs.

PCBs are so dangerous to human health and the environment that their manufacturing was banned in 1977. They are suspected of causing cancer, and have been shown to have effects on neurological, hormonal, and reproductive systems of animals and humans at very low levels. PCBs do not degrade in the environment; they persist for decades and they spread far from where they were originally dumped.

Since 2000, GE has pursued a lawsuit challenging federal Superfund requirements. GE has spent millions of dollars to avoid responsibility for the environmental disaster it created in the Hudson River decades ago. But recently, GE and the Environmental Protection Agency came to an agreement regarding cleanup of the Hudson River. While this agreement is certainly progress, it has serious shortcomings, including a disturbing provision that only requires GE to pay for the first 10% of the cleanup, allowing GE to opt-out of the remaining 90% of the cleanup with no penalties!

We need public input to ensure that GE agrees to and pays for a full cleanup of the Hudson River PCBs, and that GE is held accountable and not allowed to prolong and delay the cleanup process. Click here for more information about the cleanup negotiations and public comment period, and then sign this petition to submit your comment today!

deadline: 11-3-2006
goal: 2,500

4,845
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To the Department of Justice:

I live in [your CITY], [your STATE] and I am writing in reference to United States v. General Electric Company, Civil Action No. 05-cv-1270, D.J. Ref. 90-11-2-529. I have concerns about this Consent Decree between the federal government and General Electric. I support a full, complete and comprehensive agreement consistent with the EPA's 2002 Record of Decision that would result in the complete cleanup and removal of dangerous polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Hudson River.

[Your personal comments here]

The Consent Decree has several shortcomings that alarm me, including:
- The agreement only covers the first phase -10 percent - of the full, necessary cleanup of the Hudson River.
- The agreement allows General Electric to decide whether or not they will conduct Phase II, which is 90% of the necessary cleanup, rather than requiring General Electric to conduct Phase II.
- Under this agreement, General Electric may opt out of Phase II without penalties, which is inconsistent with other Superfund agreements.
- The agreement allows General Electric to submit its own engineering performance standards report, in addition to EPA’s. This may be inconsistent with the engineering performance standards peer review process set up in the ROD and EPA's own peer review guidance.
- General Electric and the government have not finalized the design of this cleanup. The government may be agreeing to conduct a cleanup design that ultimately is inconsistent with the cleanup decision.
- Currently there are no monies going into the Superfund and the EPA will be hard pressed to come up with the financial resources to conduct this cleanup in General Electric 's absence.

I urge the EPA and Department of Justice ensures that General Electric is held accountable to conduct and pay for a complete cleanup based on the 2002 Record of Decision adopted by the EPA. There has been no change in the science since 2002 when the Bush Administration endorsed a General Electric cleanup as the required and most appropriate action.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

We signed the “Hold GE Accountable for Hudson River Cleanup!” petition!

# 4,847:

5:23 am PDT, Apr 10, Mary Shelton, North Carolina

# 4,846:

2:27 am PDT, Apr 10, Joni Lynn, Utah

# 4,845:

12:48 am PDT, Apr 10, Darlene Carpenter, Colorado

# 4,844:

8:55 am PDT, Apr 8, Sheila S, New York

# 4,843:

12:02 am PDT, Apr 7, Name not displayed, California

# 4,842:

7:02 pm PDT, Apr 6, Kaitlyn Connors, California

# 4,841:

8:42 am PDT, Apr 6, Kimberly Wright, Indiana

# 4,840:

7:55 am PDT, Apr 4, Lori Mulvey, Michigan

# 4,839:

4:05 pm PDT, Apr 3, Douglas Kraus, California

# 4,838:

6:13 am PDT, Apr 3, Name not displayed, North Carolina

# 4,837:

2:07 am PDT, Apr 3, Derek Cheeseman, United Kingdom

# 4,836:

11:15 pm PDT, Apr 2, Maryann Barnes, Canada

# 4,835:

4:04 pm PDT, Apr 2, Stephanie Pope, Nevada

# 4,834:

11:44 am PDT, Apr 2, Christina Eavyn Warner, Illinois

# 4,833:

9:56 am PDT, Apr 2, Chris Davis, California

# 4,832:

9:43 pm PST, Mar 29, Megan Cutler, California

# 4,831:

6:14 pm PST, Mar 29, Donna Carr, California

# 4,830:

7:57 am PST, Mar 29, Tom O'Connell, Arizona
I boycott any and all companies that don't clean up after themselves. HUMANS ARE THE ONLY SPECIES THAT FOUL THERE OWN NEST.

# 4,829:

6:55 pm PST, Mar 28, Name not displayed, Illinois

# 4,828:

6:03 pm PST, Mar 28, Paula Blankenbiller, Pennsylvania

# 4,827:

5:44 pm PST, Mar 28, Robyn Edwards, Arkansas

# 4,826:

2:42 pm PST, Mar 28, Cheryl Lee, Maryland

# 4,825:

10:58 am PST, Mar 28, Colleen Love, Maryland

# 4,824:

9:29 am PST, Mar 28, Alison Lambert, Florida

# 4,823:

9:02 pm PST, Mar 27, Frederick Mackey, Colorado

# 4,822:

6:23 pm PST, Mar 27, Zigmund Connell, Massachusetts

# 4,821:

1:44 pm PST, Mar 27, Lisa Marie Keech, Pennsylvania

# 4,820:

12:09 pm PST, Mar 27, Phillip Thompson, New York
With a annual budget larger than most countries GE could at least clean up the mess they made in the river next to my home cleaner!

# 4,819:

11:28 am PST, Mar 27, Crystal Jack, Florida

# 4,818:

2:07 am PST, Mar 27, Laura De Maria, Italy

# 4,817:

5:18 pm PST, Mar 26, Linda Cowan, Maryland

# 4,816:

8:00 am PST, Mar 26, Lila Sheehan, Missouri

# 4,815:

7:32 pm PST, Mar 25, Name not displayed, Indiana

# 4,814:

3:51 pm PST, Mar 25, Mehlika Bozkurt, Turkey
not yet, but what i know is enough.

# 4,813:

1:07 pm PST, Mar 25, Susan Jenkins, Pennsylvania

# 4,812:

1:01 pm PST, Mar 25, Alison Simpole, United Kingdom

# 4,811:

5:15 am PST, Mar 25, Darlene Wolf, Florida

# 4,810:

4:30 am PST, Mar 25, CC Schenk, North Carolina

# 4,809:

7:11 pm PST, Mar 24, NANCE O, California

# 4,808:

10:38 am PST, Mar 24, Alexander Won, New Jersey

# 4,807:

8:24 am PST, Mar 24, Omalene Colburn, Vermont

# 4,806:

6:02 am PST, Mar 24, Melissa Dyas, Pennsylvania

# 4,805:

10:34 pm PST, Mar 23, Joe Pendze, Pennsylvania

# 4,804:

8:56 am PST, Mar 23, Jared Franz, New York
PCB and Old Lace- DEADLY- LONGER

# 4,803:

7:43 am PST, Mar 23, Nicole Stanke, Wisconsin
Clean up your own mess.

# 4,802:

11:34 pm PST, Mar 22, Marlys Bousseau, Nevada

# 4,801:

11:33 pm PST, Mar 22, J. Gregory Twain, Oregon

View Signatures:
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Hold GE Accountable for Hudson River Cleanup!

This petition has been closed.