Berkshire County Arc Elects New Board Chair

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Michael Ferry has been elected Berkshire County Arc's chairman of the Board of Directors. He has been serving as the board's treasurer for 16 years.

Ferry brings to the position more than 30 years with Berkshire Bank, most recently as senior vice president, commercial regional president, for Berkshire County and Vermont regions.

"I look forward to working with the board and BCArc's staff to ensure the continued delivery of services to our individuals and families, while maintaining the financial stability of the agency into the future," Ferry saud. "There will always be new challenges, new regulations, a changing economy, and leadership. Our duty as a board is to insure delivery of services for those we care so much for." 

Ferry said the diverse expertise of the board members help provide needed vision for the future. Board members include professionals in the areas of disabilities, law, education, finance, health care and private business. 

"I believe it's important we continue to widen the expertise of the board in terms of experience, diversity, and community relations," he said.  

Ferry holds a bachelor's degree from Saint Michaels College in Colchester, Vt. He has served on numerous boards in the community, including board president of the Berkshire Housing Development Corporation & Berkshire Housing Services Inc., board member of "EforAll" Berkshire County, and a former board member and current member of the finance committee for Berkshire United Way, committee member for the Dalton Development and Industrial Commission, and a volunteer coach with the Special Olympics Massachusetts.


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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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