To the editor:
I want to thank all the town representatives that voted to rescind the contract with General Electric, the EPA, that would create a toxic PCB dump in the town of Lee. It makes my heart warm that you chose to go along with the wish of the people.
I specifically want to thank Neil Clarke for creating a motion to redirect the $50,000 that was originally budgeted for general legal fees for the Rest of River Cleanup to be used for the legal fees to fight the dump.
Lee is a great town and I truly love the town and the people who live here. They say “you need a village” to raise a child and that is so true. I have lived here my entire life and everyone watches over each other’s children and they step up to the plate and help when someone is in need.
We can get out of this contract and it might cost the towns some aggravation and money, but it will be worth it. No amount of money is worth poisoning our children and our grandchildren. If we need to, we can raise some additional money. We will prevail if we all work together and show GE that we are not standing down. We do not need a dump for our future generations to have to worry about leaking. All dumps leak at some point. We already have two other dumps leaking now and we do not need a third one. I hope the other towns — Lenox, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Sheffield, Pittsfield — will join us in this fight. Just because this proposed dump is not in your backyard or in your town, it should not make a difference.
You need to think of “all” the people this will hurt both from a health and economic perspective. Dump trucks will be carrying PCB’s through all the towns in Berkshire County for the next 15 years. We will be breathing this PCB polluted air and it will make people sick. Real estate values in the vicinity of the dump and surrounding areas will plummet.
There are other ways to clean up the river and we just need the right people on board. Technology has come a long way and it will keep improving. It is going to be a long fight, but if we all work together instead of fighting against each other, we can win.
General Electric put the PCB’s in the river and they need to do the right thing and clean it up right without a dump. Do not be afraid of big corporations. We have power in numbers and I will never stop this fight and neither will the people of Lee. We are “Berkshire County Strong” and we can show General Electric that we are not going to let them get away without doing the right thing!
Janice Castegnaro Braim
Lee
