All News Releases By Date

 

EPA LAUNCHES ACTION PLAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC RESTORATION OF PITTSFIELD AND BERKSHIRE COUNTY

Release Date: 04/06/1998
Contact Information: Mike O'Malley, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1014 Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1008 Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1010

Pittsfield - EPA's New England Administrator John P. DeVillars today announced an action plan for the environmental restoration of the General Electric site in Pittsfield and the Housatonic River in Berkshire County and Connecticut, as well as an aggressive schedule for preparing the GE site for redevelopment.

EPA's Action Plan has four critical elements:

• Immediate enforcement orders for critical clean-up activities for the plant site and the first two miles of the Housatonic River downstream of the GE facility;
• Establishment of a Citizen Advisory Panel;
• A proposal to GE for conducting clean-up and redevelopment activities at the GE site; and,
• Proceeding with the Superfund listing process and other authorities.

GE's 245 acre Pittsfield site and the Housatonic River from Pittsfield to the Long Island Sound are contaminated with PCBs from GE's Pittsfield facility. The twelve miles of river and flood plains immediately south of the Pittsfield plant site are the most heavily contaminated river and flood plain areas. It is anticipated that most of the river and floodplain remediation will take place in this twelve mile stretch. To date, nearly 100 residential, school and commercial properties in Pittsfield have been identified as in need of environmental remediation. A fish consumption advisory is in effect for nearly 100 miles of the Housatonic River downstream of the Pittsfield site.

The work called for under the EPA action plan is estimated to result in several hundred million dollars of environmental and economic investment by GE in Pittsfield and Berkshire County and result in hundreds of construction and remediation jobs over the next few years.

The announcement of the EPA action plan comes after six months of negotiations between government agencies and GE in which EPA had hoped to reach an acceptable negotiated agreement on environmental remediation, restoration and brownfields redevelopment.

"This plan is a blueprint for an improved environment, short term construction jobs, and long term economic opportunity for Pittsfield and Berkshire County," said DeVillars. "The headline for some might be Superfund, but the story is that this plan puts us on the road to environmental and economic recovery."

"To achieve success will require hard work, a sense of urgency, and a spirit of cooperation. EPA is fully committed to bringing each of those values to our work," DeVillars added.

A summary of EPA's Action Plan is as follows:

• Issuance of immediate enforcement orders necessary for public health protection. These orders -- backed by the full force of federal law and if necessary, federal funding -- will initiate critical clean up activities for the plant site and the first two miles of the Housatonic River downstream of the GE facility and insure continued progress on the cleanup of contaminated residential and commercial properties.
• The establishment of a Citizen Advisory Panel in the next month of area political, environmental and business leaders and citizen activists to inform and guide EPA's decision making throughout the clean-up and economic redevelopment process.
• In partnership with the city's political, business and environmental leaders, the submittal of a proposal to GE for conducting clean-up and redevelopment activities at the GE site.
• Proceeding with the Superfund listing process and other authorities to insure an expeditious clean-up of the river, a fast track for site redevelopment, and the comprehensive restoration of the natural resources damaged by PCB contamination.

EPA's actions for the GE facility and Housatonic River are also likely to set a precedent for GE responsibilities on some 200 miles of the Hudson River where PCB-related contamination is now under study and analysis by EPA's New York.

PCBs, whose production and distribution were banned by EPA in 1979, are a probable human carcinogen. PCBs pose a number of non-cancer risks, including special risks to pregnant women and have been linked to lower IQs in children and to problems with intellectual function, the nervous system, the immune system, the reproductive system and premature births.

The details of EPA's four point Action Plan -- immediate enforcement orders, citizen involvement, a proposal for brownfields redevelopment of the GE plant site, and continuation of the Superfund listing process -- are as follows:

IMMEDIATE ENFORCEMENT ORDERS

The first element of EPA's four part action plan is a series of immediate enforcement orders for the plant site and the river as well as the expectation of aggressive voluntary actions by GE. If necessary, EPA will ask the Department of Justice to enforce these orders. The details include:

Housatonic River

By May 15, EPA will order GE to immediately commence the following activities:

• Elimination or control of all actual or potential sources of contamination to the Housatonic River, including hot spot remediation at the plant site;
• Excavation of contaminated river sediment and river bank soils in a two mile stretch of the Housatonic beginning at the GE facility (Newell Street bridge) to the confluence of the river (the confluence of the West and East branches of the Housatonic River); and
• Remediation of contaminated soils for the contaminated floodplain properties in that same two mile stretch.

If GE refuses to comply with this order, EPA is prepared to undertake these activities on its own and ask the Department of Justice to seek recovery of money EPA spends, plus up to three times that amount in damages from the company as well as impose penalties of up to $25,000 per day for failure to comply on GE's part.

The timetable for this set of activities is:

May, 1998	EPA issues GE order to submit workplan
July, 1998	GE is required to submit workplan
Aug, 1998	Public review and comment on GE's plan
Nov, 1998	Construction begins for source control at the plant site and, if necessary, elsewhere
Spring, 1999	Construction begins on river sediment excavation

The justification for the order requiring this work is based, in part, on recent EPA sampling data that indicate the following:

• Residential properties are being recontaminated by PCB-laden sediments in the river during flooding;
• In the residential areas between Elm Street and Dawes Avenue, children playing in the river next to their back yard could face non-cancer risks that are 500 times more than what EPA considers safe;
• Teenagers walking or playing along the river banks near the GE facility could face non-cancer risks that are 300 times greater than what EPA considers safe, based on those same samples; and,
• From the GE facility to the west branch of the Housatonic (approximately two miles), recent samples have identified extensive areas of contaminated soils or sediments which pose the level of cancer risks to teenagers and children at which EPA normally takes action.

Continued Aggressive Action to Identify and Remediate Residential Fill Properties

• EPA has collected 700 soil and sediment samples in the past eight months. GE has committed to beginning cleanup on April 10 of nine contaminated properties on Longfellow Avenue, and has proposed cleanup of another 45-60 residences by the end of the upcoming construction season. Should the company fail to follow through on this commitment, EPA will issue enforcement orders to GE to clean up residential properties contaminated with PCBs that pose a public health risk or, if necessary, conduct the work itself and ask the Department of Justice to seek recovery of money EPA spends, plus up to three times that amount in damages from the company as well as impose penalties of up to $25,000 per day for failure to comply on GE's part.
• Beginning in May 1998, EPA will sample, or order GE to sample, residential properties for the presence of PCBs. EPA and DEP are currently compiling information about past GE fill practices to prioritize properties for sampling.

Allendale School

Beginning April 20, under EPA and State supervision, GE has agreed to remove PCB-contaminated soil from the Allendale school playground where PCBs were found outside the temporary cap.

By the end of the summer, a feasibility study will be completed on the long-term options for a permanent remedy at the Allendale School. Following a public comment period in the fall of 1998, construction of the final remedy will be completed during the 1999 summer school vacation.

If GE refuses to honor its commitment to clean up this property, EPA will undertake these activities on its own and ask the Department of Justice to seek recovery of money EPA spends for the cleanup.

The timetable for this set of activities is:

April, 1998	GE removes contaminated soil on playground
Summer, 1998	Complete feasibility study for permanent remedy at school
Summer 1999,	Construction of final remedy complete

Newell Street Commercial Properties

By May 15, EPA will complete a risk analysis of PCB contamination of the Newell Street properties to determine whether an imminent health threat exists. If necessary, EPA will order GE to perform short-term cleanup measures at those properties should it be determined they pose an immediate health risk.

Silver Lake

EPA is currently analyzing results of March 30 sampling of Silver Lake to determine if immediate bank soil and sediment excavation is necessary to protect public health. EPA will issue an order to GE to conduct cleanup at the lake should the outcome of the analysis so warrant.

"PCBs pose a threat to public health, natural resources, and the city's economic recovery," said DeVillars. "This set of immediate actions will attack the most serious and time critical threats. We hope to have GE's full cooperation in these efforts. If we don't, we'll do the job ourselves, and, as the law allows, will work with the Department of Justice to sue them for up to three times the cost and impose the maximum penalties allowable."

The second element of EPA's Action Plan is:

CITIZEN ADVISORY PANEL

"Strong community partnerships are key to a successful environmental and economic recovery," DeVillars said.

Based on the agency's community involvement model developed for the clean-up of the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod, EPA will, in close coordination with Mayor Doyle and City Council President Hickey, within the next month, convene a Community Advisory panel, comprised of a group of knowledgeable, committed Berkshire County citizens to ensure that citizen concerns are fully incorporated into the key environmental decisions that will be made by the agency. The board will be comprised of business, environmental, political and community leaders from Pittsfield, South Berkshire County, and Connecticut.

"Our effort must be a team effort,"said DeVillars. "This will help ensure that it is."

The third element of EPA's four part plan is:

REDEVELOPMENT OF THE GE PLANT SITE

EPA and the other government agencies share the city's goal for redevelopment of the GE site.

Within the next two weeks EPA, with full input from the city's political, business, and community leaders, will submit to GE a proposed redevelopment plan and timetable for the future use of the GE Pittsfield site. It is likely that the plan will include:

• Fair and responsible cleanup standards;
• Identification of specific parcels of GE property that can be transferred to the city for redevelopment; and,
• Liability protection sufficient to allow for property transfer and redevelopment.

"We were not able to reach agreement with General Electric on river restoration and natural resource damages," said DeVillars. "Superfund is the proper venue within which to resolve our disagreements. But the economic future of Pittsfield should not be held hostage while we resolve our differences on NRD and river restoration. We will put forward a fair and thoughtful plan that can get the site cleaned up and ready for redevelopment as fast as possible. And we will work hard to help GE understand that this approach is in their best interest as well as the city's."

The fourth element of EPA's action plan is:

SUPERFUND LISTING PROCESS

EPA will proceed with the process for listing the Housatonic River and the General Electric facility in Pittsfield on the Superfund National Priorities List. Over the next several months, EPA will continue to solicit public comments on the listing and consider and respond to those comments.

The time line for this process is as follows:

May 1, 1998	Public comment period closes
May to Nov.1998	EPA consideration of public comments and response preparation
Nov. 1998	EPA announcement of final decision on listing

"I still hope we can achieve agreement on the plant site," DeVillars added. "In our negotiations we were very close to agreement with GE on plant site clean-up. I hope GE will work with us and the city to finalize that agreement so we can move forward now on an expeditious site clean-up. If they won't, this is the next best course, not just for the river but for the plant site as well."

In response to statements that a Superfund listing will stigmatize Pittsfield and damage the city's economic health, DeVillars pointed to several communities around New England where a Superfund cleanup has paved the way for successful economic redevelopment.

"There are those who are concerned that Superfund will stigmatize this region. But, it doesn't have to. Throughout New England, we are working successfully with communities to expeditiously clean up, redevelop, and revitalize Superfund sites."

In Woburn, the IndustriPlex Superfund site, once the fifth worst in the country, promises to be the economic anchor for the city's future with major commercial development already underway. At the Fort Devens site in Worcester County, Gillette's new 410,000 square foot warehousing facility and other investments will bring more than 2,100 new jobs to the area. At the Raymark site in Stratford CT, it took only three years to clean up a highly contaminated site and prepare it for a developer to buy the land and design the plans to build a 37 million dollar shopping center which will provide a thousand permanent jobs and one million dollars in property tax revenue to the community.

"When done right, Superfund can lead to good jobs and substantial economic investment," DeVillars said. "We want to do it right in Berkshire County."

DISAPPOINTMENT OVER NEGOTIATION FAILURE

DeVillars expressed disappointment in not being able to reach an acceptable agreement throughout the negotiations.

"Last fall we initiated a process to address PCB contamination at the GE Pittsfield facility, the Housatonic River, and other off-site locations through a negotiated settlement," said DeVillars. "Our desire for a consensus agreement led us to extend the negotiations twice. We all hoped that we would reach a negotiated agreement with GE that would give Berkshire County confidence that their properties would be rid of PCB contamination, that the GE facility would be cleaned, that redevelopment would begin, and that the Housatonic River would once again be made safe for fishing and swimming. The commitment of all parties to the process was been diligent and untiring. The negotiations were professional and civil. Regrettably, we were unable to find common ground."

Mayor Doyle deserves special credit and thanks. Not only did he represent the city's interests aggressively, but he helped bring all the parties closer together than we otherwise would have been. He deserves the thanks of all the negotiators as well as of the citizens of the community he represents," DeVillars said.

The negotiations included representatives from the EPA, Massachusetts and Connecticut DEP, Massachusetts and Connecticut offices of the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of the Interior, Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the city of Pittsfield, and GE. Government and GE representatives met several days each week for full day sessions since October.

FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE

EPA and DEP have extended office hours for the week at Pittsfield City Hall to answer questions from citizens. The new office hours are 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. EPA has scheduled a Town Meeting for Wednesday evening, April 8th, at Pittsfield High School Auditorium from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. to provide an opportunity for the community to ask questions and gain further information.