Ossining joins cities and towns along the Hudson to hold Cleaner Hudson candlelight vigils on Thursday, July 23rd. 730p Engel Waterfront Park.

 Call on GE to keep PCB cleanup going beyond 2015!

GE dumped millions of pounds of the toxic chemical into the river for decades,now plans to end dredging before job is done

From Saratoga County south to New York City, residents of eight municipalities along the length of the Hudson River will light candles next Thursday, July 23rd, as part of a call for General Electric to keep its PCB cleanup going past the end of the year.

The Candlelight for a Cleaner Hudson events will begin on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at communities all along the river’s shores. The candlelight vigil organizers are inviting everyone who cares about the Hudson and its importance to waterfront communities and economies to participate. GE dumped toxic PCBs into the Hudson for decades, poisoning the river’s fish and wildlife and damaging the economy. The company now says it will end its dredging project in 2015, leaving millions of pounds of PCB-contaminated sediment behind.

In the mid-Hudson Valley, two waterfront cities across from each other are sponsoring vigils. In Beacon, vigil-goers will gather at Scenic Hudson’s Long DoPark, where a Beacon Riverfest concert by the Stacks will go from 6 to 8 p.m.  In Newburgh at Unico Park, the festivities will begin with live music and food. In New York City, New Yorkers will gather at Pier 63 in Hudson River Park. And north of Albany in Saratoga County, residents will gather at the Mechanicville City Dock and at Fort Hardy Park in Schuylerville.  Along with the eight municipalities, religious sisters at three convents along the river will light candles to call on GE to continue to clean up its pollution.

The vigils are part of a growing movement of upriver and downriver communities and state and federal leaders pushing GE to do the right thing for the Hudson River. At this now-or-never time—as GE undertakes its final dredging season—72 municipalities  (INCLUDING OSSINING!!) and/or counties in the state have passed resolutions urging GE to fulfill its moral and legal obligations to restore the Hudson Campaign for a Cleaner Hudson  beyond the partial cleanup mandated by the EPA.

Last week, 141 Assembly Membersreleased a letter to GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt and Governor Cuomo urging that the cleanup If GE follows through with plans to dismantle its upriver PCB cleanup operations this fall, it will leave behind millions of pounds of heavily contaminated sediments that eventually will flow south past Coeymans, Kingston, Beacon, Newburgh, and Ossining all the way to New York City. Federal agencies have made it clear the leftover toxic sediments will pose significant health and economic risks for generations if they are not removed now.

Add your name to the petition!http://www.cleanerhudson.org/petition