Mosquito-Borne Viruses Confirmed in North Adams, Pittsfield

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
08:04PM / Friday, August 17, 2012Print Story | Email Story

Editor's Note: Adulticide spray applications schedule updated on Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. For more information, contact the mosquito-control program at 413-447-9808.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state Department of Public Health has confirmed samples of West Nile virus in the county's two cities.

Two positive mosquito samples were identified in North Adams on Aug. 10 and two more this week in Pittsfield. Samples of Eastern Equine Encephalitis were confirmed in Pittsfield in late July and West Nile earlier.

North Adams officials say they are working with DPH. Pittsfield, a member of the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project, will continue with adulticide spray applications in and around where the samples for West Nile and EEE were found.

"This evidence confirms that significant levels of virus are present in the environment and it is important to do everything possible to avoid mosquito bites," said BCMCP Superintendent Christopher Horton. "You can help reduce mosquito population around your home and neighborhood by emptying any containers that may have collected water."

The state gives most of Berkshire County, in fact much of Western Massachusetts, a "remote" risk level for both mosquito-borne viruses. Pittsfield, Stockbridge and Sheffield are rated as "low" risk level.

West Nile can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, rashes, fevers; severe cases can include coma, tremors, convulsions and other neurological issues. More than 80 percent of those infected show no symptoms and about 1 in 150 may suffer severe cases. EEE causes similar symptoms is fatal in about 30 percent of cases.

Those 50 or older or 15 and younger are most susceptible. For more information, check the Centers for Disease Control.

The best way to avoid contracting the viruses to avoid or eliminate mosquitos. Basic tips include:

• Take precautions, especially, during the peak biting times of dusk and dawn by wearing long-sleeves, pants and socks when outdoors; apply repellent.

• Drain or get rid of items that hold water. Check rain gutters and drains. Empty any unused flowerpots and wading pools, and change water in birdbaths frequently. Use larvicide where appropriate.

• Make sure screens are tight fitting on doors and windows.

Pittsfield will continue its adulticide spray applications on the following days between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.:

Wednesday, Aug. 22: Areas south of West Street and west of South Street. Two-mile radius from West Housatonic Street at Callahan Drive.

Thursday, Aug. 23: Areas south of East Street and east of South Street. Two-mile radius from Elm Street at Williams Street.

Friday, Aug. 24: Areas north of East Street and east of North Street. One-mile radius from North Street at Crane Avenue and from Coltsville Corners.

Saturday, Aug. 25: Areas north of West Street and west of North Street. One-mile radius from West Street at Forthill Avenue.

There will also be spraying in Sheffield on Thursday, Aug. 23; Stockbridge and Tyringham on Friday, Aug. 24; Hinsdale on Monday, Aug. 27; Otis on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

If you are in the areas being sprayed, close windows and doors, turn off fans and air conditioners, stay inside during application period, rinse any outside produce with water afterward, and remove any hanging laundry.

Tags: EEE, mosquito, mosquito spraying, West Nile,

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Lee Wants Bioremediation in Housatonic River Vernal Pool Study

05:24AM / Thursday, September 03, 2026

LEE, Mass. — The town has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric to include PCB bioremediation in its vernal pool study on the Housatonic River.

Lee officials are urging the EPA to require GE to add a bioremediation treatment arm to the vernal-pool study or provide the public with a clear explanation for why such testing is being excluded.

"This is exactly the kind of question EPA and GE should be asking before final remedy decisions are locked in," Select Board Chair Bob Jones said in a statement released to the press. "The town is not asking to slow the cleanup. We are asking EPA and GE to make the cleanup smarter, less destructive, and more protective over the long term."

An open house was held in Pittsfield earlier this summer for the Vernal Pool Pilot Study on Reach 5A of the Housatonic River, a five-mile stretch between the river's confluence and Lenox border.

EPA has required GE to conduct a Vernal Pool Pilot Study as part of the Housatonic River Rest of River remediation, comparing excavation and restoration with activated-carbon-based treatments, including a product called SediMite and powdered activated carbon, the town said.

Ten vernal pools will be cleaned of polychlorinated biphenyls in total, five with excavation and five with active carbon, and seven additional vernal pools will be monitored as controls. Construction will be complete around October, but the pools will be left to their natural processes and monitored with surveys and sampling for three years.

The Lee PCB Advisory Committee wrote a letter calling for the 21st-century approach it said could reduce long-term toxicity, avoid unnecessary destruction of sensitive habitats, and improve the effectiveness of the cleanup.

It states that Lee supports the study's purpose and agrees that EPA and GE must understand how cleanup activities affect sensitive vernal-pool ecosystems.

"The current pilot includes 10 treatment pools and seven control pools, while local officials understand that roughly 100 vernal pools may occur in the broader remediation corridor," the Aug. 27 letter reads.

"That makes the pilot study consequential: the methods tested now could shape how many sensitive wetlands are excavated, reconstructed, treated, or left with PCBs managed in place."

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