GE steps up pace in New York toxic river clean-up

2010年12月24日 15:05 PM

通用电气加速纽约河道污染治理

GE steps up pace in New York toxic river clean-up

英国《金融时报》 杰里米•莱默 纽约报道

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General Electric will set aside a further $500m to pay for the clean-up of toxic chemicals from the bottom of the Hudson River as part of efforts to end one of the longest-running environmental battles in the US.	通用电气(GE)将再拨出5亿美元，用于清理哈德逊河底部的有毒化学品，旨在终结美国历时最长的一次环保斗争。
GE has finally agreed to US Environmental Protection Agency demands to complete an extensive dredging programme to restore the New York river.	GE最终同意了美国环保局(EPA)的要求，即完成一项大规模疏浚计划，从而使纽约的这条河流恢复原样。
A 200-mile stretch of waterway was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls from GE’s capacitor manufacturing plants, which began using the toxins in the 1940s. The chemicals were banned in 1977 after being linked to cancer, and the EPA closed the river to fishing. GE battled with regulators for decades over the scale and shape of the clean-up.	GE电容生产厂从20世纪40年代开始使用多氯联苯(PCB)，排放的这种有毒化学品污染了长达200英里的河道。1977年，这种化学品被发现可能致癌，并因此禁用，EPA也禁止在这条河上捕鱼。就清污的规模和方式，GE与监管机构进行了长达数十年的拉锯战。
In recent years the industrial group has sought to reinvent itself as a green company with its “Ecomagination” campaign, making the Hudson issue a particularly vexing legacy.	近年来，这家工业集团试图通过“绿色创想”(Ecomagination)行动，将自身重新打造为一家绿色企业。哈德逊河污染成了一个尤为棘手的历史遗留问题。
GE began work on the clean-up last year, but progress was hampered after PCBs were found at greater depth and in larger quantities than expected. GE has already spent $830m on the first phase, including $561m when it ran dredges 24 hours a day for several months.	GE去年开始进行清理工作，但由于发现的PCB位置比预期的更深、且总量比预期更多，清理工作受阻。在第一阶段的清理工作中，GE已经花费了8.3亿美元，其中包括数月中每天24小时进行疏浚所花费的5.61亿美元。
Last week the EPA issued stronger guidelines to GE for the next phase of the clean-up, capping months of talks. The EPA estimates the project could take six years and require the removal of billions of cubic yards of contaminated soil.	经过数月磋商之后，EPA上周对GE下一阶段的清理工作发布了更为严格的指导方针。EPA估计整个工程将耗时6年，需要移除数十亿立方码的受污染土壤。
David King, director of the EPA’s Hudson River field office, said: “We both want to get this done as soon as possible. They are stepping up to the plate.”	EPA哈德逊河区域办公室主任大卫•金(David King)表示：“我们都希望尽快完成这项工作。他们已经加快了速度。”
Jeff Immelt, GE chief executive, said recently the fourth-quarter charge would take the Hudson issue “off the table when looking at the future financially”.	GE首席执行官杰夫•伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)最近表示，“考虑未来财务安排的时候”，第四季度的支出会让哈德逊河问题在未来讨论财务问题时“渐渐淡出”。
	译者/王柯伦