The only way for the item calling for withdrawal to be placed on the warrant is for the selectmen to put it there, even though they were the ones who signed the settlement on behalf of the town in the first place.
The parties know that this cleanup could be better, but they have balanced the waste reduction improvement, the monetary compensation and expeditious start of cleanup against the risks of continued litigation.
Opponents of the recent settlement between General Electric, the Environmental Protection Agency and five South County towns to clean up PCBs in the Housatonic River reveal plans to stop a planned PCB landfill in Lee.
In a letter to the editor, Pooja Prema of Great Barrington, Mass., writes, "I advocate for leaving the river alone until more effective natural remediation technologies are discovered within the next two to 10 years, which could be done in situ (without dredging). This technology most likely already exists"
Prizes will be awarded to the male and female winners and runners-up of the 10K and 5K races, as well as to the top two “Best Dressed Native Species” racers.
"At EPA there’s a big morale issue at the staff level. It’s awful. Some employees wouldn’t normally think of leaving, but after two years of this, they wonder what they should do. I was counseling people in their 30s to hunker down for the longer run. But how can the EPA people work for a President who lies every day?”
-- Jim Murphy, former Community Involvement Coordinator for Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 that comprises New England
Gige was a founding member of the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation, Sportsmen for Land Preservation, the Housatonic River Initiative, the Save the River coalition, the Lenox Land Trust and the Josh Billings RunAground triathlon.
GE has also challenged the EPA's order to dispose of the contaminated sediment at an out-of-state facility, insisting it wants to establish dumps for the material dredged from the river in Lenox Dale, near Goose Pond in Lee and on land adjacent to Rising Pond, an impoundment on the river in the village of Housatonic.
The summer-long event combines a gallery space featuring paintings of the outdoors by local artists, environmental literature on display, and a live panel of speakers featuring prominent movers and shakers in the Housatonic River and Hudson River cleanup efforts.
Berkshire South Regional Community Center will host its annual fundraising gala Friday, Aug. 17, at which it will honor Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
Berkshire County residents have been vehemently and consistently opposed to dumping PCB waste in any of the three locations that GE has proposed – Woods Pond, Rising Pond, and Lenox Dale. EPA’s final permit required GE to transport all PCB waste off-site to a licensed PCB disposal facility.
If the Region were to roll up its sleeves, as it were, and revise the remanded permit, the Housatonic could yet remain free from the risks and burdens of PCB landfills.
Steingraber said she cannot protect her children from harm or plan for their future without taking climate action. For her, engaging in climate activism is of the same importance as other safety precautions like vaccinations or paying attention to car seat recalls.
Ecologist Sandra Steingraber is scholar-in-residence at Ithaca College, and author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment.
Sandra Steingraber's 1997 book “Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment” changed the way many people think about toxic chemicals and their connections to cancer.
GE has formally objected to EPA’s final cleanup remedy, challenging the agency’s directive to transport and dispose of the PCB waste to an off-site facility.
