FORT EDWARD – Archaeologists plan to excavate a Hudson River site where crews dredging PCB-contaminated sediment last week mistakenly ripped out the remains of what was once Britain’s largest fort in colonial America.
John Vetter, the Environmental Protection Agency’s national archaeologist, said Thursday that plans for the dig were worked out during a meeting with local leaders, General Electric officials and Neal Orsini, owner of the riverside property where the beams were located.
Several wooden beams were ripped out of the riverbank property last Friday by a crew removing sediment during GE’s $750 million PCB cleanup project. EPA officials said this week that one of the beams got snagged because it was jutting into the river, causing others to be hauled out with it.
Vetter said archaeologists hope to learn more about the site where Britain’s Fort Edward stood from about 1755 until the 1780s. The excavation is expected to begin in early September, and officials plan to allow the public to view some of the work along the river’s east bank, he said.
Read the full story in the August 21, 2009 edition of the Times Union.
Thanks to Pat Morrow for the heads-up on this article.
