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New Downtown Loop Aims to 'Hardwire Health' Into Pittsfield

By Joe DurwinPittsfield Correspondent
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A crowd of around 30 people assembled in front of City Hall on Monday to kick off a walking initiative designed to promote health as well as inspire interest in downtown commerce.

The Downtown Loop, as the 2-mile circuit has been dubbed, is marked by a series of street signs indicating its path, which runs south to north from the visitors' center at the Colonial Theatre on South Street to just before Berkshire Medical Center at the corner of North Street and Orchard. 

A collaborative effort between Downtown Pittsfield Inc., the city of Pittsfield, Berkshire Health Systems, the Berkshire Running Center at Berkshire Nautilus and the Pittsfield Family YMCA, the program was created to encourage healthier lifestyles and to enjoy the pedestrian-friendly, walkable and vibrant downtown.

"With the recent improvements and investment to North Street, this program is designed to bring downtown workers, visitors and the community out to walk for the health of it, making for a more vibrant downtown," said Elie Hammerling, board member of Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and head of the Downtown Loop Committee.

Mayor Daniel Bianchi said that by taking the time to walk downtown, residents also have opportunities to get around and appreciate changing retail offerings and other amenities of this part of the city.

"The more people get out and walk, the more vibrant our community will be," said Bianchi.

"If we want a healthy community, we have to have a good economy," echoed Ruth Blodgett, representing Berkshire Health Systems.

While individual actions are still a crucial part of maintaining health and fitness, Blodgett said, community-gathering projects like the Downtown Loop are also essential. 

"This is an important way we can hard-wire health into our city," said Blodgett.

Following some brief organized stretching activities, about two dozen walkers and a few runners broke in the newly designated loop over the course of the Monday lunch hour.

 



Tags: downtown,   exercise,   walking,   

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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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