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Staff surprised Theresa Tracy for her 90th birthday.
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Theresa Tracy has been going to the YMCA for 40 years.
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Chris Wituk presented Tracy with a 20-year pin recognizing her time as a staff member.

YMCA Recognizes Longtime Staff Member's 90th Birthday

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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The children made her a sign wishing her a happy birthday.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Forty years ago, Theresa Tracy started going to the Pittsfield Family YMCA as a member.
 
About 10 years later she started volunteering. And then 22 years ago, she took a staff position and has been teaching water aerobics courses since.
 
"I just love the Y. I don't do it for the money. I do it because I love to do it and I love the people," Tracy said.
 
And the people at the Y love her back. That's why on Wednesday, staff threw her a surprise birthday party.
 
Tracy turned 90 years old this week and when she came off the elevator and into the lobby, after teaching yet another class, she was greeted by children from the day program and staff members singing to her.
 
Tracy teaches the adult classes three days a week and started doing that after she retired from being a nurse. She has four people in her class in their 90s as well, so she isn't the only healthy nonagenarian at the North Street building each week.
 
"I love it and it is good for me. That's why I think I've lived to be this old," she said in front of her co-workers.
 
Health and Wellness Director Chris Witruk took the occasion to present Tracy with a 20-year pin, recognizing her time as a staff member.  The children from the day program made her a sign. And Tracy blew out the candles on a carrot cake purchased for her. 

Tags: birthday,   people in the news,   YMCA,   

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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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