FRIENDS OF A CLEAN HUDSON

For Information, Contact:
Jeff Jones: 518-462-5526 ext. 233
Cell: 518-265-0719
Marion Trieste, Scenic Hudson: 518-584-7817
Mario Cilento, NYS AFL-CIO: 212-777-6040

Labor Leaders Voice Support for a Hudson River Cleanup

(Albany, N.Y.) - Leaders of state and regional labor organizations today expressed strong support for the USEPA's plan to rid the Hudson River of toxic PCBs. In adding their pro-cleanup voices to those of environmentalists, civic groups and others up and down the river valley and across the state and nation, labor representatives cited the PCB threat to community health as well as the short and long term economic benefits of a prompt, complete remedial solution to the Hudson's river bottom contamination.

"Our members live in each of the communities affected by PCB contamination," said Denis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO. "Each day that passes without dredging increases the risk that our members and their families will fall ill. The labor movement of this state has fought for more than a century to protect the safety and health of its members in the workplace. Unfortunately, as a result of efforts to fight dredging of the Upper Hudson River, a person's home life may now pose a greater risk to their well-being than any workplace circumstance."

The state AFL-CIO, and its affiliate unions, represent over two and a half million working men and women throughout New York.

Local union leaders also expressed their displeasure with the what they see as highly-financed attempts by the identified polluter in this case -- the General Electric Company -- to frustrate the cleanup effort. Mike Keenan, the president of the Troy Area Labor Council, cited GE's constitutional challenge to the federal Superfund law, calling the legal action a "self-serving [attempt to] ignore the problem."

"The Troy Area Labor Council," Keenan said, "which represents more than 10,000 unionized employees in Rensselaer County, is strongly in favor of the dredging proposal put forth by the EPA. The Hudson River cleanup will ensure the health of Hudson Valley residents and nurture the ecosystem. In addition, this project could provide jobs for hundreds of local citizens. If PCBs are completely eliminated, recreational as well as commercial fishing may return to this area. It is clear that removal of PCBs from the Hudson River will provide a much needed boost to our local economy."

Several other local unions and labor councils were represented at the press conference, including representatives of upriver building and trade unions and the operating engineers -- the professionals responsible for staffing equipment on environmental cleanup projects.

"There has been much said in recent months about the controversy surrounding this issue," said Keenan, "but when the smoke clears, what we all want is a safe and prosperous environment, especially for future generations. One cannot get rid of a terrible contaminant by leaving it on the bottom of the river to poison everything around it. Only if these PCBs are removed do we stand a chance of restoring the river to the cleanliness, beauty and vitality that it once had."

The leaders stressed that the local economy in the region where the dredging is to take place will benefit both during and after the cleanup, a point of view that has not received much attention in the midst of GE's unprecedented advertising blitz. "You don't hear much about the economic advantages to a river cleanup," said Phil Allen, President of the Glens Falls Building and Construction Trades, "but we represent over 5,000 working men and women in the upriver region who know that a cleanup means many good jobs -- jobs GE can't take to Mexico."

FRIENDS OF A CLEAN HUDSON is a coalition of national, state and regional organizations including the Appalachian Mountain Club, Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation, Coast Alliance, Environmental Advocates, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York Public Interest Research Group, New York Rivers United, Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson, and the Sierra Club. The coalition supports restoration of the Hudson River through the aggressive removal of PCB-contaminated sediments.

For more information, visit: www.cleanhudson.org

###