Tag Archives: Hudson River
Doherty: Pharmaceuticals are poisoning NJ’s water supply, putting families at risk. We must act now.
In response to reports demonstrating that the water supply is awash with pharmaceutical pollutants, Senator Michael Doherty (R-Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset) is renewing his call for action on legislation,,, The United States EPA, in a conjunction with Riverkeeper and Cornell University, have confirmed that the Hudson River is heavily-polluted by commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals such as anti-depressants, blood pressure, and cholesterol medications.“If we don’t act now, generations of children could suffer from serious health problems, all because they drank contaminated water. Our commercial fishing industry could also collapse, delivering a huge blow to the economy. By refusing to address pharmaceutical pollution now, we are literally putting New Jersey’s future in jeopardy.” S-1653, would establish the “New Jersey Water Supply and Pharmaceutical Product Study Commission. >click to read<18:22
The Case of the Poisoned Fish, by Sidney B. Silverman
In the mid-1980s, East Hampton’s summer and year-round weekend population was growing rapidly. The demand for water views in particular was enormous, and the seemingly endless construction of new homes along the shoreline caused wastewater and other pollutants to run off into the bays. The contaminants made their way into clam and scallop beds; at least two lucrative fishing areas were damaged. The death knell for commercial fishing sounded when striped bass became contaminated by PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, and in 1986 New York State, citing health reasons, closed the bass fishery. Fishermen called the striped bass their “money fish,” providing what small profit they made each year; the other catches only covered overhead. General Electric was the cause of the contamination. It operated several plants adjacent to the Hudson River in upstate New York. The plants manufactured transformers and capacitors, using PCBs, a chemically stable, nonflammable fluid and a suspected carcinogen, for insulation. In handling this chemical, G.E. was sloppy to the point of recklessness. Read the story here 17:54
Shad make a run up the Hudson River
Poughkeepsie Journal – One of the Hudson River’s signature species has begun its annual spring run up the river. American shad come back to the Hudson each year to spawn. Shad were the basis of a commercial fishery that was closed in 2010 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation due to declining numbers. continued
