Lee — Berkshire kayakers and canoeists take heed: a new launch spot is in the works for a site along the Housatonic River in Lee.
During an afternoon meeting on October 15, Lee Select Board members signed documents that would push forward the purchase of about 4.3 acres at 1235 Pleasant Street along with a state conservation restriction. The effort was approved by voters at the Town Meeting in May, affirming a $100,000 contribution from the municipality’s Community Preservation Association. Those funds have been matched by Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife, with that agency tasked with constructing a parking lot and waterway launch. A $10,000 donation rounds out the $210,000 purchase price, and the conservation restriction allows for paddle sport access on the site that is adjacent to the Department of Public Works.
Town officials still need to take the sales contract back to the tract owner to countersign. With the work being performed by the Commonwealth, local officials have not yet received a timeline for the development. “I’d like to see this move along,” said Select Board Chair Sean Regnier.
The Conservation Restriction and Conservation Easement can be found here. The Option to Buy can be found here. The Disclosure Statement can be found here.
At the session, the group also signed an annual letter allowing the town’s property tax work-off abatement program to continue for its elderly and disabled residents.
Additionally, members discussed adding an agenda item to the October 21 meeting to address a recent 360-page document released by General Electric Company (GE) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on October 8. The paperwork details the anticipated protocol to be employed by GE to prepare a local site for the construction of a toxic-waste facility, or upland disposal facility (UDF), in conjunction with the Housatonic Rest of River remediation program. Slated to begin November 3, the project “leav[es] a very narrow window for people to respond or to ask questions or to comment,” said Select Board Robert “Bob” Jones.
The EPA stated it is not offering a defined comment period on the proposed activities as is customary during the remediation plan process.
“I’m just wondering if we should request an extension or at least reach out and figure out why they’re not taking public comment,” Jones said of the agency.
According to Town Administrator Christopher Brittain, EPA officials have reached out for comment.
Select Board member Gordon Bailey suggested adding the item to the next meeting’s discussion. “At the very least, [the item] can be an announcement that this is what’s going on,” Regnier added.
The town’s remediation consultant, Kleinfelder, is currently reviewing the document, Brittain said, and Lee’s PCB Advisory Committee is set to discuss any resulting expert comments at its meeting on October 22 at 6 p.m.
The 12-plus-year remediation program stems from GE depositing the now-banned polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from its Pittsfield plant into the Housatonic River for decades, with those toxins used in its transformer production. A 2020 agreement between the EPA, GE, and five affected towns provided the remedy that includes routing the materials with the highest toxicity out of the area while transporting the remaining lesser-contaminated dredged soil and sediment to a to-be-constructed UDF in Lee, near October Mountain. The measure has long been opposed by Lee residents as a health hazard to the town’s citizens and way of life.
The Rest of River spans 125 miles from the confluence of the east and west branches of the Housatonic River in Pittsfield to Connecticut’s Long Island Sound, and the EPA is tasked with reviewing and approving all documents submitted in conjunction with the project, including the October 8 submission.
