New York AG Filed Lawsuit against EPA Over Incomplete Hudson River Cleanup

AUGUST 21, 2019

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its issuance of a “Certificate of Completion” to General Electric related to the company’s cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Hudson River. In the complaint, AG James warned that in “two key areas — the levels of PCBs in fish and in river sediment — the remedial action has not proven effective.” AG James emphasized that the EPA issued a Certificate of Completion despite the fact that it “did not find the remedial action protective of human health and the environment, and stated that it cannot make that determination until further information is obtained,” which renders the action “arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful and inconsistent with” the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.