The Hudson continues to represent environmental controversy as well as environmental renaissance. The former is exemplified by the battle over General Electric's clean-up of PCB's in the river and the proposal by St. Lawrence Cement Co. to build a new coal-burning cement plant on the river at Hudson and Greenport. PBC's have been found to be harmful to both human and animal health. The cement plant, with is 406-foot high smoke stacks, could have a destructive affect on air quality locally and for miles into near-by states.

The renaissance is something you can see every time you kayak on the river "For unless you actually get out on the river you will never understand what it has meant and still means to so many people." (The Traveler's Guide to the Hudson River Valley, Mulligan, 1995, p. 105)

Sources

Boyle, Robert H. The Hudson River-A Natural and Unnatural History, 1979 edition

Dunwell, Frances F. The Hudson River Highlands, 1991

Giddy, Ian The Hudson River Watertrail Guide, Official Guidebook of the Hudson River Watertrail Association, 1999 edition

Luoma, Jon R. "The Hudson- An American Classic," Wildlife Conservation, October 2002

Luoma, Jon R. M. "The Hudson-On the Road to Recovery" Wildlife Conservation, December 2002

Mulligan, Tim The Traveler's Guide to the Hudson River Valley, 1995 edition

Stanne, Stephen P; Panetta, Roger G.; and Forist, Brian E. The Hudson-An Illustrated Guide to the Living River, 1996

NY State Department of Conservation Hudson Estuary Basics

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Web Site

Erie Canal Online Web Site

Kingston: Delaware and Hudson Canal Web Site

D & H Canal Historical Society Web Site

May 2003