NEW YORK, NEW YORK July 28, 2006 —The Environmental Protection Agency has approved another delay in the clean up of PCBs from the Upper Hudson River.

If the EPA had held the General Electric company to its orignial plan, the Hudson River clean up would have been underway for a year now. But after the 2001 order to remove more than a million tons of the hazardous chemicals from the river bottom, the electric giant has repeatedly requested delays.

Most recently, the company said complications with among other things, building a dewatering plant, wouldn't allow dredging to start until 2008. Now, the EPA is endorsing the delay, saying it's unavoidable.

Environmentalists are livid. They say the company, which dumped the toxins until they were banned in the mid-70's, has been dragging its feet for decades.

Governor Pataki says he's extremely disappointed in the EPA's decision to allow another delay in the dredging of PCBs from the upper Hudson River.