Dredging the Hudson (Letter to the Editor)

To the Editor:

Re “G.E. Facing Order to Remove. Poisons From the Hudson” (front page, Dec. 6) : The Environmental Protection Agency’s order to have General Electric dredge the Hudson River could cost the company $1 billion, and some local residents fear that dredging could recontaminate the river with stirred-up chemicals.

But who will really pay for this order? Corporations, G.E. included, generally pass along to consumers some of the costs of the regulations they are required to pay.

According to an annual study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, embedded regulatory costs already absorb almost 18 percent of the typical two-earner family’s after-tax income. It’s rather paradoxical that the E.P.A. chooses to embrace embedded regulatory costs while releasing embedded pollution.