Pittsfield Community Radio, WTBR To Hold On Air Fundraiser

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Radio, 89.7 WTBR-FM, will be holding a one-day on-air fundraiser on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.  
 
All money raised during the on-air fundraiser will go towards continuing their mission of providing the community with a non-profit, non-commercial radio station to present diverse local, entertaining, informative, and educational programming.
 
The on-air event will be anchored by former Pittsfield morning radio fixture and current Coordinator of Advancement at WTBR, Bob Heck, and Pittsfield Community Television's Executive Director and Morning Drive host Shawn Serre.  The day will also feature many local radio personalities who currently produce radio programs on WTBR. There will be special guests, including Mayor Linda Tyer, City Council President Peter Marchetti, 1Berkshire President, and CEO Jonathan Butler, Pittsfield Police Schools Superintendent Joseph Curtis, and many more.
 
Shawn Serre, Executive Director of PCTV, said this event is critical to the station's success and continued operation. 
 
"This station survives when the community steps up with its support," said Serre.  "We are grateful to be able to provide this programming every day of the year, and our annual Radiothon fundraiser is one way we are able to make that happen.  Donations received during this event are what keeps the lights on and the transmitter broadcasting," he said.
 
There will be gifts given away, including local restaurant and business gift certificates. Every donation of $25 or more will qualify for a chance to win a Thanksgiving dinner from KJ Nosh Catering.
 
"This year, we have proven the need for our community to continue to have a community radio station," Heck said.  "The independent, participatory community radio that WTBR provides is so rare in today's mass media world.  We're the only radio station in the Berkshires that allows community members from all walks of life to come together to listen, create, react and engage, and once a year we ask the larger community to come together and help keep us going."
 
The one-day on-air fundraiser will air all day on 89.7 WTBR-FM, as well as the WTBR Facebook page and on PCTV Select, available on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire.
 
Donations can be made by 413-445-4234 during the pledge drive or made online at wtbrfm.com

Tags: fundraiser,   PCTV,   

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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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