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Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment

This case addresses natural resource injuries that have occurred due to the release of hazardous substances, particularly polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), to the Hudson River, primarily from General Electric's Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York manufacturing plants.

General Electric's Hudson Falls Plant and Bakers Falls on the Hudson River. EPA Photo.

Fact Sheet for Waterfowl Investigations 2007-2008 (Sept. 2007)

Data Report and Fact Sheet for 2004 Amphibian Preliminary Investigation

Study Plan for Avian Injury Study Year 3 (2008)

Responsiveness Summary for Avian Injury Study Amendment for 2007.

Data Report [1.0 MB pdf] and Fact Sheet for 2003 Amphibian Preliminary Investigation

Work Summary and Data Report for Preliminary Investigation of PCBs in Hudson River Bats

Fact Sheet - provides an update on the "Preliminary Investigation of PCBs in Hudson River bats".

Hudson River NRDA ListServe Established

The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees -- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the U.S. Department of the Interior -- have established a listserve to provide updates on the ongoing natural resource damage assessment and restoration efforts for the Hudson River. The public is invited to join the listserve for periodic updates on this effort.

To join the Hudson-NRDA listserv:
1. Send a message to: requests@willamette.nos.noaa.gov
2. Write in the subject: Subscribe hudsonnrda
3. You will receive a confirmation e-mail to which you MUST reply within 24 hours.

Natural Resource Damage Assessment Reports and Determinations

The links below will allow you to view reports and other documents prepared by the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Natural Resource Trustees, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of the Interior), concerning the Hudson River NRDA. If you have any questions concerning information found in any of these reports or any other comments related to the Hudson River NRDA, please contact us via telephone or email:

Kathryn Jahn, FWS, Ecological Services, New York Field Office, 607-753-9334, kathryn_jahn@fws.gov

Robin Heubel, FWS Region 5 NRDA Coordinator, 413-253-8630, robin_heubel@fws.gov

Some reports are in pdfformat and will require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these documents. PDF files may be large so note the file size before downloading.

Additional Reports and Documents:

Draft Study Plan for an Avian Injury Study for 2008 for public review and comment. The proposed study includes work on tree swallows, American kestrels and Eastern bluebirds.

Final Study Plan for Avian Egg Injection Study, Year 2 (2007). (1.4 MB pdf file)

Draft Study Plan for Waterfowl Injury Assessment - PCBs in Hudson River Resident Waterfowl [Word] [HTML]. The Trustees solicited comments from interested parties on this draft study plan. Comments were due by June 25, 2007. The Trustees are currently reviewing comments that were received in response to the draft study plan in order to determine next steps.

Design and Preparation of a Custom 58-Congener PCB Mixture Dosing Solution for Avian Egg Injection Studies (2.2 MB pdf file)

Additional Reports and Documents.

Revised Study Plan for Avian Egg Injection Study. January 31, 2007 (2.5 MB pdf file)

Responsiveness Summary for the Mink Injury Study Plan (190 KB pdf file).

Draft Study Plan for an Avian Injury Study - Amendment for Year 2 (2007) (40 KB pdf file).

Fact Sheet - Avian Investigations for the Hudson River NRDA, December 2006 Update (680 KB pdf file)

Injuries to Hudson River Surface Water Resources Resulting in the Loss of Navigational Services. July 2006. Trustee Report (386 KBpdf file)

Fact Sheet - Mink Investigations for the Hudson River NRDA, Summer 2006 Update (600 KB pdf file)

Final Study Plan for Mink Injury Investigations for the Hudson River (2.5 MB pdf file)

Final Study Plan for an Avian Egg Injection Study (2 MB pdf file)

Responsiveness Summary for the Avian Egg Injection Study Plan (180 KB pdf file)

Draft Study Plan for Mink Injury Investigations for the Hudson River (3 MB pdf file)

Modification to Study Plan for Avian Investigations for the Hudson River - USGS Study Plan Amendment for 2006

Data Report for the Collection of Eggs from the Common Snapping Turtle from the Hudson River, New York (740 KB pdf file) and associated Database User Manual (140 KB pdf file).

Draft Study Plan for an Avian Egg Injection Study (900 KB pdffile)

Data Report for Screening for Organochlorine and Metal Contaminant Levels in Hudson River, New York Bullfrogs and Snapping Turtles (6.5 MB pdf file), and associated Quality Assurance Project Plan (1.6 MB pdf file)<.

Data Report for the Collection of Eggs from Eastern Screech Owl Associated with the Hudson River from Hudson Falls to Schodack Island, New York(pdffile).

Responsiveness Summary for the Study Plan for Year 2004 Avian Investigations for the Hudson River (pdffile).

Analytical Quality Assurance Plan, Version 2.0, for the Hudson River NRDA September 2005 (pdffile).

Work Summary and Data Report for the Collection of Eggs from American Peregrine Falcon, Hudson River, New York(pdffile)

The Final Avian Egg Exposure Data Report (Revised).Revisions to the report include the insertion (into Appendix C) of the analytical chemistry results for spotted sandpiper that were unintentionally omitted from the report.

Modification to Study Plan for Avian Investigations for the Hudson River - USGS Study Plan Amendment for 2005, May 2005 (pdffile)

The Accumulation of Sedimentary PCBs in Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) Tadpoles From the Upper Hudson River,November 2004(pdffile).

Hudson River NRDA Floodplain Data Summary, June 2004 (pdffile).

Addressing PCB-Related Losses Along the Hudson River Through A Natural Resource Damage Claim, 10/04 (pdffile).

Revised Final Avian Egg Exposure Data Report (Revision posted 06/29/2005<

1) View Entire Document(2.1 MBpdf file)

2) Sections:

Section 1 (520 KB pdf file)
Executive Summary
Introduction
Sampling
Results
References
Figures

Appendix A (546 KB pdf file): Work Plan for the Collection of Eggs from Spotted Sandpipers, American Woodcock, Belted Kingfisher, American Robin, Red-Winged Blackbird and Eastern Phoebe Associated with the Hudson River from Hudson Falls to Schodack Island, New York.

Appendix B (353 KB pdf file): Data Quality Assessment Report, Avian Egg Exposure Study

Appendix C (1.1 MB pdf file): Avian Egg Data Sheets

Final Study Plan for Year 2004 Avian Investigations for the Hudson River (pdffile).

Fact Sheet: Avian Investigation for the Year 2004, Spring 2004 (pdffile).

Fact Sheet: Preliminary Investigation of Frogs and Sediments, Spring 2004 (pdffile).

Draft Study Plan for Year 2004 Avian Investigations for the Hudson River Released for Public Review and Comment (pdffile).

PCB Contamination of Common Snapping Turtle Eggs from the Hudson River, New York (Results of the Trustees' June 2002 collection of eggs from Hudson River common snapping turtles). Abstract and Poster (pdffile).

Egg PCB Contamination of Various Avian Feeding Guilds from the Upper Hudson River Valley (Results of the Trustees' Spring-Summer 2002 collection of eggs from 11 species of Hudson River birds). Abstract and Presentation (pdffile).

Responsiveness Summary for the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan, July 2003(pdffile)

Sampling and Analysis Plan for Hudson River Fish Health Assessment (pdffile)

Analytical Quality Assurance Plan - Version 1.0 (pdffile)

Public Participation Plan - Phase I (pdffile)

Public Participation Plan - Phase II (pdffile)

Fact sheet - Spring 2003

Press Release: TRUSTEES RELEASE PLAN TO ASSESS HUDSON RIVER RESOURCE INJURIES, Sept. 17, 2002 (pdffile)

Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan, Sept. 2002(pdffile 2 MB)

Fact Sheet: Summary of the Damage Assessment Plan (pdffile)

Executive Summary Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan

PCBs in Floodplain Soils and Shrews of the Hudson River - a Presentation by the Trustees (pdffile)

Hudson River Restoration: Role of Natural Resource Trustees (Clearwaters Journal article, spring 2002)