Pcbs In The Upper Hudson River example essay topic

The Hudson River is 315 miles long from the Adirondack Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. This river was founded in 1606 by a man name Henry Hudson. In the 1620's, the Dutch settled this river. Soldiers also used it as a highway during the American Revolution. Humans have used this river for approximately 400 years already.

The river has been used for travel, food, recreation, and as a waste dump purposes since its discovery. The Hudson River consists of three parts, the upper stream, middle river, and the New York Blight. The upper stream is about 50 miles above Albany. It contains cool, fast flowing, and more oxygenated water.

The Brook trout, minnows, and aquatic insects are some species that inhabits this part of the river. There are a lot of exotic immigrants, which get into the river at this point because the Erie Canal meets the Hudson at this location. The Hudson carp, Bluegill, and the water chestnut are some of the species that have flowed in from that point. The middle river contains fresh water and also brackish water fish. The short nose-sturgeon, pan fishes, and pickerels are some of the fishes in the middle river.

The New York Blight is where the fresh water from the Hudson and the salt water from the Gulf Stream merge in New York and New Jersey. The Estuary is a place where salt water and fresh water meet. It contains high nutrients and acts like a filter because particles sink down, and is a fertilizer because it contains so much material. The Hudson River has been a site where New York has dumped all of its sewage sludge before 1992. Due to the damage we have caused to the river, New York now processes the sewage into Biosolids that are de watered sewage without contaminants and is an environmentally safe product used as fertilizer. 160 million gallons of raw sewage use to be dumped into the Hudson River daily.

Also the North River Water Pollution Control Plant to create a better water environment. This plant decreases fecal bacteria and increases dissolved oxygen in the water. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has also played a major role in conserving this river. It has done harbor monitoring since 1909 at 12 locations, and currently 53 stations that have look outs for Osprey, a type of falcon. There has been a reestablishment on the populations of Peregrine Falcons, aquatic birds, bottom worms, clams, and crabs in the Lower New York Bay.

Also there has been 68,000 acres of shellfish beds, and led to the opening of all New York City beaches in 1992. Most recently, The Hudson River Foundation, an organization that seeks to improve the quality and well being of the Hudson River, had concluded a scientific report that concentrates on PCB's in the river. The survey showed that PCB's are harmful to the residents and environment of the Hudson River. The PCBs in the Upper Hudson River, especially in the Thompson Island Pool is a continuing source of contamination to the River. The Hudson River is very valuable to us overall.

This River is used for recreation, transportation and many more. I think its very disappointing to know that we would use such a wonderful site to dump our waste in. I think there has been a major improvement on the cleanup of the river, but there could be a lot more done. The result discover of PCBs in the water of the Hudson River is another dilemma we must fix..