B.B.A. Takes Game One of Berkshire Adult Baseball League Final Series

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Hunter Potash and David Delgado combined on a three-hitter Friday as B.B.A. edged Different Breed, 2-1, in eight innings in the opener of the Berkshire Adult Baseball League 20-year-old division final.
 
Potash went seven innings to earn the win on the mound.
 
Delgado struck out one and walked one in one inning of relief to get the save.
 
Mike Massery and Ian Benoit each drove in a run for B.B.A., which got a pair of hits, including a double, from Dustin Vale Cruz.
 
Izaiya Mestre doubled in a run in the bottom of the seventh for Different Breed to force extra innings.
 
Jett Steinman and Tanner Bird combined to strike out 15 hitters in the loss.
 
The two teams are scheduled to play again on Sunday at 10 at Clapp Park. With a win, B.B.A. will claim the league title. If Different Breed wins, it will force a rubber match in the best-of-three series.
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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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