Critics: Burial Site For Hudson PCBs Is Inadequate

BETSY BLANEY

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Later this month, the first trainloads of PCB-tainted sludge dredged from the Hudson River will arrive and, in the eyes of critics, will turn a stretch of West Texas into New York's "pay toilet."

They argue that burying dirt so toxic that General Electric Co. will spend at least six years and an estimated $750 million to dig it up will only create a new mess for future generations to clean up.

But for 15 new jobs and the little bit of money it'll bring local businesses, the folks who live near the site are willing to take the risk, however remote, of tainting the area's ground water by taking out somebody else's trash.

"The city is not against it and the city is not in an uproar," said Matt White, mayor of nearby Eunice, N.M. "It is a big impact on our city and definitely positive ... so we're very comfortable with it."

The deal has the blessing of government officials in both states, and New York environmental groups who have lobbied for decades for the removal of the sludge say it will substantially lower the risk of PCBs — a likely carcinogen in high doses in humans — getting into the food chain.