GE, EPA Detail Plans for Pittsfield Rest of River Cleanup
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's section of the Housatonic River will see a five-year cleanup beginning in 2028.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric last week held a public hearing at Herberg Middle School for the Reach 5A Final Design and Restoration Plan, which details remediation efforts for the Pittsfield stretch of the Housatonic River.
The PCB-polluted "Rest of the 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.
Pittsfield'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. It is the first section to be remediated.
"It's important to know that the final design doesn't say how the cleanup is going to be implemented. It's focusing on what will be done. The how comes in the next phase after EPA approval of the final design in the supplemental information package," explained Josh Fontaine, remedial project manager at the EPA.
"This provides all the details of how that cleanup area is going to be completed once GE has approval on the supplemental information package. That's when they move into construction."
The remedy to clean PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) was selected by the EPA in 2020, and is part of long-term efforts to reduce the pollutants risks on people and wildlife and restore the river and its floodplain.
It has two components: remedy and remediation. This is basically removing and placing an engineered cap on PCB-contaminated sediments, and working to restore the river channel and bank with a natural design.
Kevin Mooney, a senior project manager for GE, explained that they will remove a minimum of 22 inches of material and install a 22-inch sediment cap.
The project is anticipated to last about five years, beginning in 2028, and will move around 195,000 cubic yards of material, which will then be taken to the Upland Disposal Facility or off-site disposal facility. Site preparation for the UDF in Lee is expected to begin in late 2027.
Seven temporary staging areas for material, equipment, water treatment, and field offices are proposed along the stretch, and there will be a rail trainload area built north of the Pittsfield treatment plant.
At the staging areas, the materials will be consolidated, dewatered, and segregated for the Upland Disposal Facility in Lee or off-site disposal for higher concentrations of PCBs. They will then be loaded into intermodal containers and sealed for rail or truck transport, maximizing rail use.
Residents came forward with concerns about health effects and disruption from the work. The project includes air monitoring for PCBs as well as dust, noise, odor, and lighting controls, and communication with the City of Pittsfield.
"PCBs are a Group 1 human carcinogen, and there's no known safe level of exposure," a community member said while bringing up concerns about vapor intrusion from the UDF.
"They bioaccumulate in the body, regardless of the source concentration, and the body never really clears them."
A concerned Noblehurst Avenue resident explained that his family has a baby and is expecting twins in June, and that his neighbor, who is having a baby, received a request for air monitoring on their property.
"Please don't use any plastic, even the biodegradable plastic just ends up stuck in the river over the years," environmentalist Jane Winn said to the project team, which confirmed that plastic products are not in the plan.
Public comments are due by Aug. 10, and in the summer and fall, the EPA will review the Reach 5A design. A revised plan will be released in the fall with details for years 2-5, and GE will select a contractor in the winter.
"We realize this is a big project, and we are taking steps to minimize the impact and ensure public safety of the community that's impacted by this project," Mooney said during the presentation.
Tags: cleanup, EPA, General Electric, PCBs, Rest of the River,
