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Political supporters trying to keep dry on Tuesday outside the Berkshire Athenaeum. The rainy weather — or the ability to vote early — seems to have lowered turnout so far.
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Bowler supporters brought a canopy with them in North Adams to keep dry.
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State Rep. John Barrett III says he's been making the rounds in the First Berkshire.
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Plenty of umbrellas out for supporters at Reid Middle School on Tuesday afternoon.

Pittsfield Having a Quiet, Rainy Election Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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A normally high traffic spot at St. Elizabeth's Parish in North Adams only had a handful of supporters although the crowd was larger across the street. 

UPDATE: As of 6:30 p.m., Pittsfield has a 34.4 percent voter turnout rate.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It has so far been a relatively peaceful — and rainy — primary election day in the city. 

City Clerk Michele Benjamin reported that as of noon, there was only a 12 percent voter turnout.  She hopes to see more votes cast later in the day and that the gloomy weather conditions don't deter too many people.

"It's going pretty well, we haven't had any problems or anything," she said around 3 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum polling site.

Last year's municipal election had a 21 percent voter turnout and the 2020 state primary election yielded a 37 percent turnout.

The primary was expected to have a higher turnout with two hot local races as well as some competitive statewide races on the Democratic ballot. Republicans, too, have an open primary for nominees for both governor and lieutenant governor.

North Adams wasn't much higher at 17 percent around 4:30 p.m. So far, 1,578 out of 9,470 registered voters had cast ballots. 

Election official Nancy Canales, who'd been at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center since 5:30 a.m. to set up, said the numbers had been steady but light.

The two major races in the primary are for sheriff and district attorney. With the candidates all on the Democratic ballot -- and no Republican challenger -- the presumptive winner will be determined Tuesday.

Supporters of incumbent Sheriff Thomas Bowler, his challenger Alf Barbalunga, and district attorney candidate Timothy Shugrue said they have been getting along while holding signs outside the library in Pittsfield and that it had been a great day -- aside from the rain.

"It's been a great day," Aaron Sugarman said, holding a Barbalunga sign. "It's been very wet and a little bit cold but there's been a lot of activity in and out of the library since 11 a.m. so people are definitely getting out to vote."

At around 2:50, Ward 5A had 380 votes cast and 5B had 522. There were more than 550 early and absentee votes in the ward.

Reid Middle School — the polling station of Ward 1 A and B — had an array of candidate supporters with signs for incumbent DA Andrea Harrington, Shugrue, Bowler, Barbalunga, state Senate candidate Paul Mark, and Governer's Council candidates Tara Jacobs and Jeff Morneau.

At 3 p.m., Ward 1A had 259 votes and 1B had 547.



A smaller crowd held signs for Barbalunga, Bowler, and Shugrue outside of Egremont Elementary School, which is where Ward 3B residents vote.

Around 3:45 p.m., the precinct had 636 votes cast.

The only issue reported throughout the locations was traffic congestion between voters and students getting out of school at elementary and middle school polling locations.

There was a fairly large Bowler contingent in North Adams across from the polling station. They'd set up a canopy to keep the rain off. The driveway into the parish center is normally buzzing but the rain apparently kept away large crowds. City Councilors Marie T. Harpin and Jennifer Barbeau, holding Harrington signs, were under a small tree to help keep off the rain. Harpin said she'd been there most of the day, only going home to warm and dry off mid-afternoon. 

John Barrett III, running for a third term in the state House of Representatives against challenger Paula Kingsbury-Evans, said he'd been making the rounds in the expanded First Berkshire District. The once nine-town North County district now includes Savoy, Windsor, Hinsdale and Peru. 

"One of the reasons I decided to run, I think more than anything else, is because of the reduction of four representatives to three, making sure that we, hopefully, will have a chairmanship or two out of out of the three that are left," he said, referring to the loss of a House seat from redistricting. "We have make sure that Berkshire County still has a voice."

Dalton, on the other hand, was seeing higher than normal turnout so far with 719 mail-in and absentee ballots and just over 500 voting in person by mid-afternoon. 
 
In Adams in early afternoon, Selectman Joseph Nowak was outside the polling site at the Memorial Building with a Barrett sign. He said voting had been steady.
 
iBerkshires will be following up later this evening with results. Polls close at 8 p.m.

 


Tags: election 2022,   primary,   


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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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