Lee — At the October 3 Select Board session, Town Administrator R. Christopher Brittain announced that a meeting with Lee residents, town officials, and staff from the Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric Company has been set for November 28, at 6:30 p.m., in the Lee High School auditorium. The meeting will focus on transportation routes of excavated PCB-laden soil and sediment from the Housatonic River to the Upland Disposal Facility slated for Lee, as well as out of the area. Public comment will follow the EPA’s presentation.
The decade-plus remediation project follows years of GE depositing the now-banned polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the waterway from its Pittsfield plant. A June 27 joint session was held between EPA officials and the Lee Select Board, with a GE contractor outlining a possible route for the dredged materials, a route that included Main Street. EPA Program Manager Dean Tagliaferro has since stated that this route will be reserved for only products sent off site, and not to the UDF.
Although “preliminary conversation” about the transportation plan has taken place, no plan has been announced yet, with a preliminary plan scheduled to be submitted October 31, Brittain said. The plan’s public comment period will probably be extended past its stated 45 days, and the November meeting will fall within that comment timeframe and before the final draft is released, he said.
“We want everybody to have a say, be able to speak out, ask questions, and get all the information needed, but we want to maintain a level of civility and patience, and we want clear communication,” Select Board Chair Robert “Bob” Jones said. “So, we ask everybody to be an investigator because it’s really important that everybody understands what’s happening.”
Resident Dave Carrington asked if he could make a five-minute presentation at the November transportation meeting as he will provide information about using the railroad system instead of trucks for remediation. Brittain urged him to submit a written proposal and possibly make that a part of his comments. “I think it would make very clear the convenience of the railroad as opposed to trips all around,” Carrington said.
At a previous meeting with EPA officials, town representatives were very specific about not wanting truck traffic down Main Street, Select Board Clerk Gordon Bailey said. “It was crystal clear,” he said.
Jones advised citizens to “expect Main Street to be on the table” and pushed for residents to follow the directive in a recent Letter to the Editor for The Berkshire Edge—that is, to write their representatives with their concerns about the remediation plan.
The 2020 permit was agreed to by a former representative of Lee as well as representatives from the towns of Stockbridge, Great Barrington, Lenox, and Sheffield and the EPA and GE. That document proposed that the UDF be situated in Lee. “I will just remind everybody that this has been going on since the beginning of 2020 when the agreement was first announced,” Jones said. “And, the fronts on the battle and the battle have changed dramatically any number of times. So, this is an ongoing conversation.”
EPA extends public comment deadlines for four documents
EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Ashlin Brooks released a statement on October 3 that the agency has extended public input periods for four documents, with comments for the Pre-Design Investigation Summary Report for Reach 5A Non-Residential Floodplains, Pre-Design Investigation Summary Report for Reach 5A Sediment and Riverbanks, and Phase 1B Cultural Resources Survey Work Plan for Reach 5A extended 60 days and due Dec. 4; and comments for the Conceptual Remedial Design/Remedial Action Work Plan for Reach 5A extended 90 days and due Jan. 8. The EPA has directed all public comments to be submitted to R1Housatonic@epa.gov.
New police force addition
With the Lee Select Board’s October 3 appointment of Joshua Tracy as a full-time police officer, the town’s law enforcement department is fully staffed. Tracy’s entry into Lee’s police force is a benefit, as the officer did not need training, since he already has the requisite certification after serving with other Berkshire County towns. Bailey applauded the appointment “based on Chief [Craig W.] DeSantis’s glowing recommendation and what looks like a great resume for Mr. Tracy.”
The complete department comes on the heels of Officer Jason Hopkins’s recent transition into a full-time School Resource Officer.
At the meeting, Select Board members also:
- Heard from Lee Youth Commission Chair Kathy Hall that a dodgeball tournament will take place Oct. 14 at the Crossway Tower Gym, 130 High Street, with ages five through nine participating 5:30 to 7 p.m. (parents to stay) and ages 10 through 14 participating 7:30 to 9 p.m. (drop-off welcome), advance registration needed;
- Heard from Member Sean Regnier that the Comprehensive Master Plan Steering Committee he serves on is finalizing sections on housing, with education and land use to be discussed at an upcoming session;
- Signed the Annual Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund and Senior Citizen Property Tax Work-Off Abatement Program Letter allowing disabled and elderly residents to work to offset their taxes;
- Approved a Berkshire Gas permit for 151 West Park Street;
- Approved a temporary sign permit and waiver of fees for St. Mary’s School in conjunction with a Nov. 19 annual bazaar;
- Approved Trick or Treat for Oct. 31, 5 to 7 p.m., with Bailey advising residents to put their porch lights on if visitors are wanted;
- Set a special town meeting for Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., with Nov. 2 as an informational session; and
- Issued a proclamation for Oct. 14 as “80 Day” in conjunction with the Council on Aging, noting the positive impact some residents have made on the town, with a formal presentation to be held on that date at the Senior Center.
