Lee town officials meet with Sen. Warren’s staff, as she seeks answers from EPA

Lee — Members of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D) staff met with town officials on Wednesday, April 19 concerning the proposed polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) dump.

From 1932 until 1977, General Electric [GE] operated a Pittsfield transformer manufacturing complex and allowed millions of pounds of PCB-laced oil to seep into the Housatonic River until the production of PCBs was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979.

In February 2020, a controversial agreement was signed between Lee, EPA, GE, and other parties to clean up the river and dispose of the PCBs at a toxic waste dump in Lee. Recently, the town filed a lawsuit against the company Monsanto for its decades-long manufacturing of PCBs.

Last week, Town Administrator Christopher Brittain shared a letter with The Berkshire Edge citing frustrations that the town “has received no response from the Senator’s office for over three weeks despite multiple emails, phone calls, and a web page submission.”

In an email to The Berkshire Edge, Brittain wrote that members of Sen. Warren’s staff, whom Brittain did not identify, held two separate meetings, one with Select Board Chair Sean Regnier, and another with Select Board member Bob Jones.

When contacted, Sen. Warren’s Press Secretary Ruby Robles would also not identify the members of Sen. Warren’s staff who met with Lee town officials.

“In a meeting with members of Senator Warren’s staff, Town of Lee officials discussed concerns over the UDF [Upland Disposal Facility] permitting process, as well as issues regarding the proposed location in Lee,” Brittain wrote. “During the discussion, Lee officials shared data provided by leading scientists showing problems with the UDF location. Among these concerns was the presence of a large aquifer directly under the UDF site capable of producing over two million gallons of drinking water daily.”

Brittain wrote that representatives from Sen. Warren’s office “…stated that they were committed to pushing the [Environmental Protection Agency] to make informed decisions and to commit to investigating alternative treatments and solutions that could possibly alleviate the need for long-term disposal of PCBs in the Town of Lee.” Brittain continued, “Although it is unlikely that the Senator will be able to initiate a re-review of the 2020 EPA permit, she has submitted a letter to the EPA asking for clarifications on the permit and the use of innovative remediation technologies. The senator’s staff has also committed to a continued dialog on this topic with the town.”

In her letter to EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash, Sen. Warren wrote, “I believe it is important to make sure local stakeholders continue to be heard by EPA officials and GE as this crucial cleanup work moves forward … In particular, I have heard from the Town of Lee regarding the implementation of this agreement, and want to ensure the community’s concerns are considered in this process. I remain fully committed to working with federal, state, and local partners to ensure the Housatonic River cleanup is executed in a way that maximizes safety, environmental justice, and community input.”

In her letter, Sen. Warren posed several questions to EPA Regional Administrator Cash, which are reprinted in full here:

1. 1. Please describe any recent conversations EPA officials have had with the five towns in South County regarding cleanup plans.
   2. What risks are posed by further delaying the cleanup and leaving the waste located in the river?
   3. Please describe plans and potential benefits to pumping the waste material to a disposal site as opposed to trucking.
      1. How did EPA come to the decision to move some of the material to a local landfill, versus trucking all of the material to another location?
      2. How does EPA understand and account for the risks of transportation and the resultant carbon emissions in this decision-making?
   4. What measures does EPA have in place to ensure compliance from GE?
      1. How will EPA monitor GE’s compliance with the agreement?
      2. What penalties or other provisions are in place in the event of non-compliance?
   5. How does EPA take environmental justice considerations into account in the planning for the clean-up?
   6. The 2020 Settlement Agreement includes “a commitment to further research on innovative technologies, demonstration efforts and pilot studies.” Please describe this component of the 2020 agreement, and EPA’s plans to involve the academic community, stakeholders, and technical experts in the ongoing cleanup process.

Sen. Warren requested that Regional Administrator Cash answer her questions no later than May 3.