GE has lost a legal battle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit its Superfund liabilities related to the clean-up of pollution in the Hudson River, reports Business Green. GE is currently liable for clean-up operations at 52 Superfund sites, according to the agency.
GE contested a provision of the Superfund law that denies companies the ability to go to court to challenge the agency's claims, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
GE argued that companies could incur large penalties for non-compliance without adequate recourse to appeal, violating their constitutional rights to due process, according Business Green.
The Superfund clean-up is estimated to cost at least $750 million, and possibly more, reports Business Green.
Over the past several years, GE has repositioned itself as one of the world's leading providers of clean technologies with the launch of its Ecomagination initiative.
GE recently selected US Ecology as one of three firms to help the company with the clean-up operation in the Upper Hudson River.
The Hudson River contains about 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, which was dumped into the river from the end of World War II until 1977, when they were banned by the U.S. government, reports Business Green. GE began dredging the river in May.
