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Berkshire Force Set to Host Softball World Series

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire Force softball team brings talent, experience and the home field advantage to this week's Babe Ruth Softball 16-and-under World Series.
 
One year after representing the New England region at the national tournament, the Force is hosting seven days of competition at the Doyle Field Complex -- welcoming some of the best teen softball teams from around the country.
 
And hoping not to be too welcoming, at least not between the foul lines.
 
"Basically we're going to try to do better this time," said Lanesborough's Miranda Voller, one of several veterans from last year's tournament in North Carolina.
 
"We know what to expect now."
 
Last year, the Force finished in fourth place at the World Series, an event won by that year's host, Wilson County, N.C.
Among the local contingent that went south to follow the Force a year ago is a member of this year's team, Miranda's sister Rachel.
 
"What you see at the World Series is all the pitchers have different strengths," Rachel said. "Some have screwballs, fastballs, change-ups."
 
Miranda agreed, but pointed out that the Force routinely seeks out strong opposition.
 
Earlier this summer, the team was denied a chance to defend its New England title because as the tournament host, it has an automatic bid to the tourney. But instead of resting on its laurels, it went to Lowell, Mass., for two days of top-flight competition.
 
This week's competition gets under way at 5:30 on Wednesday against the representative from Florida.
 
The Force are scheduled to continue pool play on Thursday afternoon against Louisiana at 2:30 and on Friday against
Kentucky at 3 and Washington at 8:15.
 
For some of the Force players -- like Mir Voller, Taconic High's Megan Boyle and Jillian Campbell and Pittsfield's Allie Hunt -- the tournament will be familar.
 
For all of them, the surroundings will fit like a glove.
 
"It's been really nice becuase we've had the support from the whole community of Pittsfield," Rachel Voller said.
 
A successful tournament in front of the hometown fans would be a heck of a way to end things for the Force's veterans.
 
"This will be the last year I'll be playing," Miranda said. "I know the girls last year, when it was there last season, they were very emotional.
 
"I'm trying not to think about that right now. But this year I'm definitely going to try my hardest."
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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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