Environmental Contaminants Program Home Page, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment

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

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.

Recent Publications:

Responsiveness Summary for the Study Plan for the Waterfowl Injury Assessment: Determining PCB Concentrations in Hudson River Resident Waterfowl. (1.7 MB Dec. 2008)

Final Study Plan for Waterfowl Injury Assessment: Determining PCB Concentrations in Hudson River Resident Waterfowl (1.7 MB pdf. Dec. 2008)

Hudson River Trustees Release Responsiveness Summary for 2008 Avian Injury Plan (pdf)

Fact Sheet for Sediment Toxicity Pilot Study for the Hudson River (pdf Sept. 2008)

Additional Reports and Documents

Hudson River NRDA ListServe

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

Reports and other documents were 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). Please direct any questions or comments related to the Hudson River NRDA:

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

Additional Reports and Documents:

NOTE: These documents are organized by phase of work, with the newest documents within each category at the top of each section.

Preassessment Phase
Hudson River Preassessment Screen
Assessment Planning and Injury Assessment

Assessment Planning

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

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

Analytical Quality Assurance Plan - Version 1.0 (pdf)

Fact Sheet: Hudson River NRDA Update - Spring 2003 (pdf)

Public Availability Sessions on NRDA Plan, October 2002 (pdf)

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

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

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

Executive Summary Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan

Response to Public Comments on the Draft Scope for the Hudson River Natural Resource Damages Assessment Plan. June 1999.

Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Damage Assessment Scoping Document, 63 Fed. Reg. 52,244 (September 30, 1998) (pdf)

Draft Scope for the Hudson River Natural Resource Damages Assessment Plan

Injury Determination and Quantification

Biological Resources

Fish

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

Assessing Fish Health -- Fall 2001 Status Report on the Hudson River NRDA (pdf)

Injuries to Hudson River Fisheries Resources Report (1.2MB pdf)

Birds

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

Study Plan for Avian Injury Study Year 3 (2008) (600KB pdf)

Responsiveness Summary for Avian Injury Study Amendment for 2007. (pdf)

Draft Study Plan for an Avian Injury Study for 2008 (pdf) for public review and comment.

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

Draft Study Plan for Waterfowl Injury Assessment - PCBs in Hudson River Resident Waterfowl [Word] [HTML].

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Data Report for the Collection of Eggs from Eastern Screech Owl Associated with the Hudson River from Hudson Falls to Schodack Island, New York (800KB pdf).

Responsiveness Summary for the Study Plan for Year 2004 Avian Investigations for the Hudson River

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

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

Revised Final Avian Egg Exposure Data Report (2.1MB pdf) (Revision posted 06/29/2005)

Final Study Plan for Year 2004 Avian Investigations for the Hudson River (3MB pdf).

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

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

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 (1.2MB pdf)

Fact Sheet: Preliminary Investigations of Bird Injuries (pdf)

Mammals

Work Summary and Data Report for Preliminary Investigation of PCBs in Hudson River Bats (550KB pdf)

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

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

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

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

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

Progress Report on Hudson River Mammals: Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Levels in Mink, Otter, and Muskrat and Trapping Results for Mink, the Upper Hudson River Drainage, 1998-2000

Reptiles and Amphibians

Data Report (500KB pdf) and Fact Sheet (pdf) for 2004 Amphibian Preliminary Investigation

Data Report(1.0MB pdf) and Fact Sheet (pdf) for 2003 Amphibian Preliminary Investigation

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

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

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

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

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 (pdf) .

Preliminary Investigation of Snapping Turtles (pdf)