Test for toxins sought at site of 1777 British surrender

SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. – Officials are pushing the federal government to test for possible toxic contamination in an upstate New York park built where the British surrendered after a key Revolutionary War battle.

The Saratogian reports leaders in the village of Schuylerville say the Environmental Protection Agency should determine if a 2016 flood along the upper Hudson River left behind industrial chemicals known as PCBs in a children’s playground there.

General Electric has removed tons of contaminated sediment from that stretch of the river. The EPA has said more dredging doesn’t seem necessary for now.

State officials say tests done on silt deposited in the park by flooding showed high levels of PCBs.

The park site is where Gen. John Burgoyne’s army surrendered to the Americans after the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.