The Environmental and Human Health Threat of the Hudson River Post-Dredging

Giselle Roman, Harrison Glassman, Jennifer Ayzman, Lizzie Bianco

We looked at the topic of “The Environmental and Human Health Threat of the Hudson River Post-Dredging” and we specifically tried to answer the question: “Was the dredging of the Hudson River conducted from 2009 to 2015 as successful as the EPA and General Electric claimed?”

To answer this question, we compared 2018 iNaturalist data from two NYC parks surrounded by Rivers—Inwood Hill Park (surrounded by the Hudson River, the River in question) and Brooklyn Bridge Park, surrounded by the East River. We specifically looked at fish data, which showed us both quantities and types of species of fish present in the two Rivers. We decided to see look and see if we saw a difference in biodiversity and quantities of fish, and we found that there was a stark difference. The East River near Brooklyn Bridge Park had 61 different fish species noted on iNaturalist while the Hudson at Inwood Hill Park only had 16, while also having noticeably less fish in terms of sheer quantity.

Given this stark difference, as well as the findings of high levels of PCBs found in fish in the Hudson in recent studies done by the NYSDEC, we strongly believe that there is a likelihood in PCBs having led to this decrease in biodiversity in fish in the Hudson, given their negative and toxic effects on many fish species.

Thus, through coming to these conclusions, we strongly believe that dredging for PCBs in the Hudson River was not nearly as successful as was claimed by General Electric and the EPA.