HUDSON RIVER ROLLS

The magnificent scenery and rich history of New York’s Hudson River Valley are the subject of legends like Rip Van Winkle and the Last of the Mohicans. The Hudson’s environmental problems are also legendary. Two hundred miles of the river were contaminated by industrial chemicals called PCB’s more than twenty years ago. And recent studies by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that potentially dangerous levels of these chemicals are still in the river. Living On Earth contributor, Richard Schiffman has this update on one of the nation’s longest running environmental controversies.