ecoSPEARS Transformative Technology Can Permanently Remove PCBs From Hudson River Without Dredging

Company Urges Government Officials to Review Technology Before
Responding to GE’s Clean-up Completion Request

Company’s NASA-developed, Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation
System (SPEARS) Will Give the Hudson River and Community a Second Chance
at Life

ORLANDO, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With many New York government officials, citizens and organizations
calling for further PCB clean-up efforts in the Hudson River, ecoSPEARS
has asked General Electric (GE), the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and state officials to consider deploying its
NASA-developed Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation System
(SPEARS) to rid PCBs in the river, forever. The recently commercialized
SPEARS technology extracts the world’s most persistent toxins, like
PCBs, from waterways at a fraction of the cost of dredging and without
disturbing the aquatic ecosystem and community.

PCBs—polychlorinated biphenyls—were discharged into the Hudson River
from GE capacitor plants from 1946 to 1977. A 2002 EPA consent order
required GE to clean up the river and the company spent $1.7 billion on
a dredging project to remove the contaminants. With EPA expected to
decide on GE’s certificate of completion soon, there has been public
outrage that not enough has been done. Federal agencies, New York state
agencies, Governor Andrew Cuomo, citizens, businesses and environmental
groups contend that levels of PCBs in river fish haven't dropped enough.

“We know a decision will be made soon, and it will be historic. EPA has
admitted the cleanup has not reached any of the benchmarks that would
show the cleanup to date has worked to protect the health of the river
and the public,” said Jay Burgess, the director of communications for
the Poughkeepsie-based environmental group Scenic Hudson, in a recent article.

It has been reported
that Kathryn Jahn, the U.S. Department of Interior's Hudson River case
manager, wrote to the director of the EPA Hudson River Field Office late
last year that the department, along with state and National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration officials, continues to be concerned about
significant PCB contamination and its impacts on the river's ecosystem.
She said that additional PCB removal and "robust" habitat reconstruction
"will accelerate the recovery of the river and its resources, which will
reduce restoration required and facilitate the ecological and economic
recovery of the Hudson River."

“I grew up just down the road from the Hudson River. It’s heartbreaking
that we’re still talking about clean up and that communities are still
being impacted,” said Serg Albino, CEO of ecoSPEARS. “It is imperative
that officials look at transformative technologies that quickly and
inexpensively deliver a permanent clean-up solution. Communities
shouldn’t have to settle for partially clean.”

SPEARS is a long-term, permanent solution that has also shown to have
powerful short-term effectiveness. When placed in river or lake beds,
SPEARS will absorb PCBs and other harmful contaminants from the sediment
all while protecting human health and the environment by trapping the
harmful contaminants and limiting the threat of re-suspension, as
compared to traditional remediation methods.

ecoSPEARS has commercialized the NASA technology to be both scalable and
cost-effective. When site-specific PCB levels are achieved, ecoSPEARS
removes the SPEARS with the trapped PCBs from the sediments, and uses a
proprietary post-process technology to destroy the harmful chemicals.
SPEARS is a green remediation technology that the community, state
officials, responsible parties, and EPA can all rally behind to rid the
river of the persistent PCB contaminants, finally, once and for all.

Developed in 1929, PCBs were widely used across the world as coolants
and lubricants in transformers, capacitors and other electrical
equipment. The toxic substance was finally banned from production in
1979, but the irreversible damage was done. PCBs are not only persistent
in water and on land but also are fat soluble, meaning they can linger
for decades in the fatty tissues of living organisms.

PCB contamination has been linked to human cancer as well as liver
dysfunction, digestive disorders, headaches, nausea and fatigue. PCBs
can also affect the respiratory, immune, nervous systems and cause a
variety of reproductive disorders, including male sterility,
developmental abnormalities, learning disorders and birth defects.

ecoSPEARS has assembled a brilliant team of innovators, scientists and
engineers that have commercialized a NASA-developed, scalable solutions
for permanently cleaning-up persistent toxins in water and dry soil.

To learn more about ecoSPEARS, visit: www.ecospears.com.

About ecoSPEARS:

ecoSPEARS is providing America’s polluted waterways a second chance at
life through the commercial deployment of NASA-developed, transformative
technology. The company’s Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation
System (SPEARS) can permanently clean up the world’s most pervasive and
persistent toxins from water at a fraction of the cost of dredging and
without disturbing the aquatic ecosystem and local community.

Located in Orlando, Fla., the company has assembled a brilliant team of
innovators, scientists and engineers, who have developed scalable
solutions for cleaning up PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), PAH
(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon), PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl
ethers), DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), dioxins, and other
harmful contaminants in water and dry soil—forever.

ecoSPEARS: Vital. Clean. Brilliant.

For more information, visit www.ecoSPEARS.com or
follow the company on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Contacts

For ecoSPEARS
Andy Beck, 202-587-5634
[email protected]