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EPA Announces Cleanup Option for 1½-Mile Section of Housatonic River

Release Date: 07/14/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)


BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the agency's preferred cleanup plan for a 1½-mile section of the Housatonic River in Pittsfield between the Lyman Street Bridge and the confluence of the river's east and west branches. The cleanup plan, which will be subject to extensive public comment in the coming weeks, would involve excavating about 94,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediments and bank soils.

"Now that the cleanup of the top ½-mile of the river is well along, we're laying the groundwork for tackling the next 1½ miles, with work beginning next summer," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "The cleanup plan we're unveiling today will go the extra mile in reclaiming the Housatonic River as a resource to the community rather than a liability. We look forward to hearing from the public on this next big step in erasing PCBs from the river and Berkshire County."

EPA and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public informational meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, to summarize the results of the agency's Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EECA), which included an evaluation of various cleanup options, and to answer questions. A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 15, for interested citizens to submit written statements and offer verbal comments. Both meetings will be held at the Berkshire Athenaeum Public Library Auditorium, 1 Wendell Ave., Pittsfield.

EPA will also be holding an public informational meeting at 7 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the Kent Town Hall in Kent, Conn.

EPA will hold a 31-day public comment period, from July 17 through August 16, to provide an opportunity for the public to participate in the selection of the 1½-mile cleanup plan.

EPA's preferred cleanup alternative for the next 1½ miles would entail using dry excavation to meet EPA's cleanup criteria. This technique involves cordoning off sections of the river with sheetpiling, or diverting the river by pumping the water through a pipe bypass, and then draining those sections so contaminated materials can be removed.

The plan calls for consolidating up to, but no more than, 50,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils and sediments at designated consolidation areas at the GE property in Pittsfield. The remaining estimated 44,000 cubic yards of material would be sent to an off-site treatment/disposal facility.

Following the excavation, the riverbed will be restored using erosion protection materials and, where feasible, sand and gravel layers to mimic existing grain size distribution in the river. Riverbank restoration will be performed to mitigate damage created by the removal activity and to improve the existing condition of the riverbank habitat. Restoration includes revegetation with native species, bioengineered structures and erosion protection materials.

During the comment period, the public is invited to review the EECA and the administrative record file, which includes documents that will form the basis for EPA's selection of a cleanup plan. The information is available at the following locations:

 

EPA Records Center 1 Congress St. Suite 1100 Boston, MA 02114 (617) 918-1440	Berkshire Athenaeum Public Library Reference Department 1 Wendell Ave. 413-499-9488
MA DEP 436 Dwight St.,Suite 500 Springfield MA 01103 413-784-1100	Berkshire County Regional Planning Commission 10 Fenn St. Pittsfield MA 01201 413-442-1521
Lenox Public Library 18 Main St. Lenox MA 01240 413-637-0197	CT DEP (Communications) 79 Elm St. Hartford CT 06106 860-424-4100
Simon's Rock College of Bard 84 Alford Rd. Great Barrington MA 01230 413-528-7274	Kent Library 32 North Main St. Kent CT 06757 860-927-3761

Written comments (postmarked no later than August 16) should be mailed to: Chet Janowski, Remedial Project Manager,1 Congress St., Suite 1100 (HBO), Boston, Massachusetts 02114; faxed to: (617) 918-1291; or e-mailed to: janowski.chet@epa.gov.