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EPA Extends Public Input Period to Review GE Clean Up Plan of Housatonic River

Release Date: 04/03/2008
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – April 3, 2008) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending for 30 days the informal Public Input Period on a clean up plan developed by General Electric Corp. for the Housatonic River south of Pittsfield, Mass.

The GE plan, called a "Corrective Measures Study" (CMS) details the company's proposal to clean PCB contamination in the Housatonic River, in a portion referred to as "Rest of River" under the ongoing clean up that has been underway for nearly 10 years. EPA will now accept public comments through May 20, 2008. The public input period opened on March 22.

The CMS includes GE's recommendations on which alternatives the company believes best meet the objectives and criteria specified for the Rest of River clean up project.

EPA has started a review of GE's CMS and will be accepting comments from the Citizen's Coordinating Council, the general public, the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection and other interested organizations and individuals. Following the current review of the GE proposal, EPA will propose its own preferred cleanup alternative(s) and will hold a formal public comment period prior to selecting a final clean up remedy.

More information:

- View the GE Corrective Measures Study clean up proposal (epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/restofriver/reports/cms/283374_CMS_Report.pdf)

- EPA's GE/Housatonic River Clean Up website (epa.gov/region1/ge/)

- Comments on the GE CMS may be submitted to:

Susan Svirsky ([email protected]), EPA Rest of River Project Manager
c/o Weston Solutions
10 Lyman Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201

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