GE’s new plan for how to remove PCBs it polluted into Berkshire County’s main waterway for decades in the 20th century followed a 2023 meeting in Lee where residents excoriated the company for an overreliance on trucking. At Taconic High School in Pittsfield Wednesday, Project Manager Matt Calacone said their feedback had been received.
“GE has performed a thorough evaluation of the various modes of transportation, and we selected an approach that maximizes the use of hydraulic transport," he said. "79% of the project material from the rest of river will be transported hydraulically without the use of trucks. That's an increase from the prior plan of about 57%. Our approach maximizes the use of rail transport for both onsite and offsite disposal. 17% of the project materials will be transported by rail combined with truck. We're minimizing the use of trucking alone, with only 4% of the project materials transported solely by truck. This approach results in the fewest local round trip truck miles for all the alternatives that we evaluated.”
Locals at the meeting offered measured praise for the new plan alongside new criticisms and demands for the corporate giant.
“I think it's absolutely great that we've come as far as we have in one year's time," said Bob Jones of the Lee select board. "A year ago, we stood in the auditorium at Lee High School, and we were told by GE that they had looked into the railroad and it was just not viable. We knew, of course, it is viable because we had spoken with Parker Rodriguez, Chief Counsel for Housatonic Railroad, and he told us that GE had never even reached out to the railroad. A year later, clearly, they have, and we've come up with a plan that utilizes rail, which makes sense. It made sense to all of us years ago. So finally, we have a plan where we're reducing trucks.”
Per the terms of the controversial cleanup plan announced in 2020, the town will host a new landfill for almost a million cubic yards of low-level toxic materials. Following a string of unsuccessful legal challenges against the plan, Lee filed a new lawsuit against GE and PCBs manufacturer Monsanto in March alleging the companies continued to use the dangerous chemicals for years after identifying the harm they posed. Monsanto has denied the claim to WAMC.
“If we're going to be using the railroad, if we're going to be dredging these high-level toxic areas behind the dams and get them out, but if the volatility of the low-level stuff is not impacting us the way the high stuff is, why are we even touching it at this point?" Jones continued. "Why are we capping it and burying it? Why are we not focusing on remediation methods that are used all around the world and in this country, just not in [EPA] Region 1? Why are we not focusing on getting rid of the really poisonous stuff and then work on remediating what's in the river? Then you're not building any dumps, you're not trucking this stuff through the streets, and you're actually implementing a cleanup of the river.”
After GE told Housatonic resident Maureen Quigley that there were no epidemiologists attached to the work during the Q&A portion of the meeting, she said she was shocked.
“So, [as] someone in the medical field, I find that appalling, absolutely appalling," she said. "Epidemiologists are public health workers who investigate patterns and causes of disease and injury. They seek to reduce the risk and occurrence of negative health outcomes through research, community education, and health policy. You are removing PCBs from a river and placing them in a concealed container, whatever you're calling it, in very close proximity to the river. I can't comprehend how that's even a possible plan to put contaminants right next to where you're removing them.”
Public comment on GE’s revised cleanup plan is open until January 15th. The plan is subject to EPA approval.
