General Electric Co. (GE) is required to cleanup a portion of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined in its Revised Final Permit (RFP) issued earlier this month.
The RFP requires GE to remove PCB contamination in the Rest of River portion of the Housatonic River running through Pittsfield, Lee and Lenox, Mass. and into Connecticut, EPA reports in the March announcement. EPA states in the announcement that the RFP "is a significant step" to reducing the risk of PCB exposure in and around the river.
"Today, EPA notified the General Electric Company of the Region's final permit decision, and the permit became effective and fully enforceable," EPA states in the announcement.
GE must clean up PCB contamination "that pose unacceptable risks to human health and to the environment" from nearly 350 acres of floodplain and sediment in and along the river, the EPA reports. Goals include reducing the risks of coming into direct contact with contaminated soils; reducing floodplain contamination to allow recreational and residential use without "unacceptable" risk; and reducing PCB levels in fish to allow more human consumption, according to the report
"EPA is requiring GE to move forward with the Rest of River cleanup plan documented in the final permit," EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash said the announcement. "The communities along the Housatonic deserve access to a river free of threats posed by PCBs, and issuing the final permit today is a big step towards that cleanup goal."
The RFP was issued in December 2020, after what the EPA called "a robust public comment process." The Housatonic River Initiative and the Housatonic Environmental Action League requested the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board to review the RFP; on Feb. 8, the board issued a 122-page decision denying the request "in all respects," EPA states.
For more than seven decades, GE has polluted the Housatonic River with toxic PCBs, a biproduct of its now-defunct transformer plant in Pittsfield, according to the EPA. PCBs cause numerous adverse health issues, including cancer and problems with immune, reproductive and nervous systems, the EPA reports.
Three prominent Democrats from Massachusetts hailed the EPA decision in a joint statement included in the announcement.
"Today's decision by the EPA will support the recovery of past wrongs that have impacted the communities along the Housatonic River for over 70 years," U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, said in the statement. "It is the result of the hard work of community leaders and will ensure the Housatonic River can be enjoyed for generations to come. We will continue working with our federal, state and local partners to hold GE accountable for meeting all of its obligations and seek the environmental justice our communities deserve."
