Some Worry New Bedford Harbor Cleanup Money Isn't Enough

Local environmentalists say they're worried a $366 million settlement to clean probable human carcinogens out of New Bedford Harbor might not be enough.

The settlement with AVX Corp. was negotiated last week by the federal government, and reaction has been largely positive. But the Coalition for Buzzards Bay says the Environmental Protection Agency has consistently underestimated the costs to clean up the polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the harbor.

And some say the plan to rebury polluted sediment or place it sealed containers will leave too high a level of PCBs.

The harbor has been off limits to fishing since 1979.

The EPA says its plan will clean the harbor and return fishing there in 10 years. And it says if the settlement money isn't enough, it will seek more.