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The winners are Neal Shusterman, Steve Silberman and Benedict Carey.

Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media Recipients Named

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center has announced the recipients of the 2016 Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media.

The winners are Benedict Carey, a reporter covering brain and behavior topics at The New York Times; Neal Shusterman, a New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter and television writer; and Steve Silberman, an award-winning science writer whose work has appeared in Wired, The New Yorker, Salon and Nature.

The Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, curated by essayist and author Joshua Wolf Shenk, recognizes and encourages writers, journalists and media experts who have produced sophisticated and accessible work on mental health issues. This year’s prize recipients will be honored at a colloquy at the Austen Riggs Center on Saturday, August 20, beginning at 1 p.m. Nell Casey, the author and editor of books on mental health, including "Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression," co-curated this year’s prize and will be on hand for the ceremonies.


The colloquy, co-hosted by Shenk and Director of the Erikson Institute Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, will feature a presentation by each of the 2016 prize recipients – who, according to Tillman, “have found important and meaningful ways, through their work, to contribute to crucial conversations about mental health in the world today.”

“There’s both remarkable similarities — and diversity — among this year’s impressive honorees,” Shenk said. "Steve and Ben are two of the great working journalists working on science and mental health, and Neal’s book represents an astonishing work of personal observation. But we also have here, in Ben, a great beat reporter for a daily newspaper; in Steve, a long-form magazine and book writer driven by the lyrical and narrative literary traditions, as well as that of immersion reporting; and, in Neal, a leading author of fiction who has authored a stunning novel drawing on the experience of his son’s mental illness.”

Continuing education credits are offered to MDs, PhDs, PsyDs and social workers. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited; advance registration is recommended. To register, call 413-931.5230 or email samantha.blache@austenriggs.net.

 


Tags: health,   mental health,   news media,   

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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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