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Pittsfield High School Announces Class Speakers & Top 10

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ryan Muller, president of the Student Council, will be joined by De'Lisia Adorno and Sadiya Quetti-Goodson of the PHS 2021 Class Council to speak at graduation this Sunday, June 6, at 4 p.m.  
 
For the first time since 1987, the ceremony will be held at Pittsfield High School's 300 East St. campus. These three students represent the voice of this year's senior class who have worked diligently through a challenging school year.  
 
Pittsfield High School recognizes students who have achieved the top 10 cumulative grade-point averages in the senior class. The PHS 2021 Top 10, in alphabetical order, are Gabrielle Cohan, John Fick, Sasha Grosz, Conor Mooney, Ryan Muller, Briana Palmieri, Isabella Penna-Ward, Alexandra Swanson, Elizabeth Swanson, and Sadie Tierney. 
 
Academic departments also give awards to honor the most outstanding students in their respective disciplines. The following are this year's outstanding students: 
 
Lauren Giusti (Art), Emma Kostyun (Band), Riley Burke (Business), Alexandra Swanson (Computers), Nina Snowise (Drama), Sophia-Marie Groves (English), Ryan Muller (Social Studies), Alexandra Swanson (Math), Gerdlie Jean Louis (Orchestra), Alexi Sondrini (Physical Education), Isabella Penna-Ward (Science), De' Lisia Adorno (Chorus), Savannah Gervais (CVTE), Briana Palmieri (World Language),  and Lorena Roderiguez De Souza (English Language Learner). 
 

Tags: graduation 2021,   val & sal,   

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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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