Representatives of PCB groups from around the country, including two from Berkshire County, will be converging on Fairfield, Conn. for a historic, two-day conference focusing on the public health impacts of PCBs, a toxic chemical.
Six representatives of Lee-based Housatonic River Initiative and two from Pittsfield-based Citizens for PCB Removal will be attending the conference, which is called the PCB Congress and is going to be held at Fairfield University on March 26 and 27.
Besides the university, Fairfield, Conn. is home to the world headquarters of the General Electric Co., which is responsible for PCB contamination in the Housatonic River, which flows through Berkshire County and Connecticut, and the Hudson River, which flows through New York.
Judy Herkimer – who will be representing the Housatonic Environmental Action League of Cornwall Bridge, Conn., at the conference – said 60 delegates, representing 42 organizations, are expected to attend.
The 42 organizations, all co-sponsors to the event, have received and signed a Declaration of Independence from PCBs, which is a statement of principles that all the groups have agreed upon, said Tim Gray, the executive director of the Housatonic River Initiative, who originally proposed the Congress idea at a meeting of Hudson and Housatonic river groups in Fort Edward, N.Y., on Sept. 30, 2002. The declaration will be ratified and hand-delivered to GE.
Gary Sheffer, who works in public affairs for GE, said, "We'll accept whatever they want to bring to us. We respect their opinion. We respectfully disagree with them on some of these issues.
"A majority of the scientists" -- independent scientists, he said -- "disagree with them on the human health impact of PCBs." GE workers, Sheffer said, have been studied many times and have shown no increased rates of cancer or mortality from their exposure to PCBs.
In addition, copies of the declaration will also, in the future, be delivered to other companies and organizations that have contributed to PCB contamination in the United States, including the military, Westinghouse, 3M, the Fox River Paper Co., and the Solutia Co., which was previously called the Monsanto Co., Herkimer said.
The Congress delegates, a couple of whom are coming from as far away as Alaska and Mexico, are going to share their experiences with PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyl, contamination and will "map a unified national strategy to fight for the health" of their communities, according to a press release. In addition, at the end of the first day of the conference, a rally/vigil is scheduled to take place at the front gate of GE World Headquarters, which is located at 3135 Easton Turnpike.
The PCB contamination, faced by the communities that are going to be represented at the congress, comes in many forms -- waterways, neighborhoods, communities, PCB-contaminated soil and PCB incineration.
The unified national strategy that will be developed among the participants will incorporate the delegates‚ experiences with PCBs as well as the
expertise of four environmental and public health experts, who are going to be featured speakers at the event, said Herkimer, the director of HEAL and one of its founding members.
Featured speakers include leading PCB-impact researchers, Drs. David Carpenter and Brian Bush of the University of Albany's School of Public Health; Peter Montague, one of the nation's leading grassroots organizers and publisher of "Rachel's Environment" and "Health Weekly"; and Dr. Peter deFur, of Environmental Stewardship Concepts.
Communities represented at the PCB Congress include Anniston, Ala.; New Bedford, Mass.; Brockport, N.Y.; and Fort Edward, Hudson Falls and other Hudson River communities in New York.
Others joining the Congress include a First Nations Yu'pik representative from Alaska; the Schaghticoke American Indian tribe of Kent, Conn.; indigenous community representatives from Matamoros, Mexico; and a researcher with the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment from the St. Lawrence River in New York.
The representative from Alaska is attending because the breast milk of a woman from the Arctic region contained some of the highest levels of PCBs found anywhere, Herkimer said. PCBs bioaccumulate, which means they gradually accumulate in living tissues. PCBs are stored in fat, like the blubber of whales, seals and walruses. Since Arctic people eat a lot of blubber and eat so high on the food chain, they have some of the highest levels of body burden of PCBs in the world, Herkimer said.
Gray said he discovered, when talking to PCB groups around the country, that they were, like HRI, having trouble getting health-related agencies to respond to the health concerns of communities. That is the premise for the PCB Congress, which is intended to be "a way to try to bridge all the groups and network," he said.
The groups from Berkshire County are attending to share their experiences with the PCB contamination of the Housatonic River. The PCBs came from the manufacture of electrical transformers at the large, industrial GE facility in Pittsfield, which is now mostly dormant. A massive cleanup of the river from the plant site down to Woods Pond in Lenox is currently being conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and will take years to complete.
Studies have been and continue to be conducted, both by the EPA and GE, to determine if the 'rest of the river' – the section that flows from Woods
Pond into and through Connecticut and empties into Long Island Sound – needs to be remediated.
All conference sessions of the PCB Congress are open to the public and will take place in the Dolan School of Business dining room at Fairfield University
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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.
In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.
Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear.
The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.
"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."
Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.
In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.
The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.
"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.
The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.
In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.
"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
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