New England Public Radio

A stretch of the Housatonic River that, under an EPA proposal, would be dredged to remove PCBs. (Photo by Nancy Eve Cohen)
(Photo Credit: Nancy Eve Cohen)

General Electric Differs With EPA On The Next Phase Of The Housatonic River Cleanup

PITTSFIELD, Mass.

General Electric has shot back at the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to clean up a portion of the Housatonic River.

READ: GE’s filing

In a filing with the EPA, GE says the so-called “Rest of the River” plan is “not a common-sense solution” and violates the terms of the original agreement between the two parties. The company objects to the costly out-of-state disposal of contaminated soil from the banks of the Housatonic and differs over plans to dredge a pond in Lenox.

GE offers solutions it says would accomplish the same as what the EPA proposes, and would also be cheaper.

The “Rest of the River’ plan is the latest phase in cleaning up the Housatonic, which GE polluted with PCB’s when it operated a plant in Pittsfield decades ago.