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R.K. Miles and Makita Ski-Doo Grand Prize Winner Kevin Netto Jr, picks up his New Makita Anniversary Edition Ski-Doo from Central Vermont Motorcycles in Rutland, Vt.

R.K. Miles Announces Snowmobile Sweepstakes Winner

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WEST HATFIELD, Mass. – R.K. Miles Friday announced that Northampton, Mass., area contractor Kevin Netto is the Grand Prize winner of a brand new Makita 100-year anniversary edition Ski-Doo.

Netto's name was randomly selected on Feb. 8 from all eligible entries received during the Makita 100 Years of Innovation Sweepstakes promotion that ran from Nov. 1, 2015, through Jan. 30.

 

"We were very excited to learn that one of our regular customers from our West Hatfield store won," said Steve Aubin, the general manager of R.K. Miles' West Hatfield store. "We were very pleased with the buzz the snowmobile created while it was on display in our store -- it brought in a great deal of foot traffic and helped build awareness for the Makita brand and its history of creating quality, long-lasting tools."


In celebration of Makita's 100 years of Innovation, R.K. Miles invited customers to enter in person at any of its four locations for a chance to win One Grand Prize 2015 Makita 100-Year Anniversary Edition Ski-Doo MXZ Sport 600 Carb Snowmobile valued at $7,299. Entrants also were eligible to win one of four second-place prizes: the Makita 18V LXT XT275M Brushless 2 PC. Combo Kit (one per store location), valued at $399.99 each, and one of four $250 Makita gift certificates good toward any in-stock Makita tools and accessories (one per store location).

 

Second- and third-place prize winners were: Tristan Frieri and D. Scott Dupee from the Williamstown store, Wayne Sturtevant and Westley DeVries from the Middlebury, Vt., store, Scott Roth and Dave Omasta from the West Hatfield store, and Ron Prouty and Eric Perry from the Manchester, Vt., store. 

 

R.K. Miles is a third-generation family business founded in Manchester, Vt., in 1940. The company supplies lumber, building materials and home goods to communities in southern Vermont and Western Massachusetts. In 2005, R.K. Miles expanded its operations to Middlebury and Williamstown, and in 2008, the company acquired the former Rugg Building Supply, which has become their newest location on West Street in West Hatfield.  

 
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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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