Exploring Hudson pollutants

I appreciated two articles which we read in our Sophomore Seminar -- “PCBs in the Upper and Tidal Freshwater Hudson River Estuary: The Science behind the Dredging Controversy” by J.E. Baker, W.F. Bohlen, R.F. Bopp, B. Brownawell, T.K. Collier, K.J. Farley, W.R. Geyer, R. Nairn, and L. Rosman and “Toxic Substances and Their Impacts on Human Health in the Hudson River Watershed” by R.J. Landrigan, A.L. Golden, and H.J. Simpson – for their systematic explanation of pollutants, particularly PCBs, in the Hudson River. I think that other texts which we have read that address pollutants in the Hudson simply present the problem without explanation or present a biased view of the dredging controversy. The above articles use scientific evidence to explain the effects on and the risks to the environment, animals, and humans from these pollutants and an exploration of the current state of PCBs in the Hudson and predictions for the future health of the river.
I think that the authors of “PCBs in the Upper…” presented a convincing argument for the benefits and need to dredge areas of the Hudson of PCBs. They further showed me the health risks from PCBs and that contaminated Upper Hudson River sediment is and is going to be the continuing source of PCBs in the river. I also appreciated that the authors acknowledged the difficulty of making models to show and predict the movement of contaminated sediment and PCBs, that dredging will cause temporary problems for nearby communities and habitat, and the need for further research. They do not ignore these problems, but with the available information the authors “conclude that the risks are real, the problem will not solve itself, and that the proposed remediation (with monitoring) is feasible, appropriate, and prudent” (364).