To the editor:
On the east side of the Housatonic River, from Woods Pond south to the Turnpike, the last glacier left us with plenty of sand, gravel, and boulders, as is evidenced by the gravel pits along the way. If you stand on the Woodlawn Bridge and look east at the stream bed, you can see the boulders thick as can be.
From the pond south for about two miles and half a mile wide, to a depth of at least 100 feet below the surrounding water table at the base of the water-shed of October Mountain, is a basin-like formation. This porous material sets the conditions to form the largest aquifer in Berkshire County, the Woods Pond aquifer, with an estimated volume as much as Laurel Lake, and an estimated recharge rate of over a million gallons per day.
About 1,500 feet from the river on top of this aquifer, GE proposes to put what would be one of the largest toxic-waste dumps in New England, with a weight equivalent to about 500,000 medium-sized cars: a million-cubic-yard hill of PCB-laden material.
GE would excavate an estimated 300,000 cubic yards of material from the terrace over the aquifer to a depth of 15 feet above the surrounding water table to make room for the bottom of the dump. To compensate for the risky location, they propose a double liner (not guaranteed by the manufacturer) but with a sump collection system for if and when it leaks, and there it would stay to be monitored and tested forever, like a big toxic smudge spilled by the hand of a corporate giant on a canvas of the beautiful Berkshires.
A temporary convience for GE. A permanent threat to the health and wellbeing of our people, a permanent devaluation of Lee and the Berkshires.
All of this is unnecessary as railroad remains the safest possible, most efficient, and unobtrusive means of transporting heavy loads, which is waiting for the nod to transport the PCB-laden material to an existing, off-site licensed landfill. It has been going up and down the tracks right to or close by the Rest of River work for over 100 years, as it serviced the mills along the way. Trucks must support rail but stay off restricted roads.
Lee has little industry; it depends on tourism. The Woods Pond area, yet unspoiled by endless push of development, is one of the best locations in the state for outdoor recreation of all types: hiking, biking, photography, horseback riding, canoeing, fishing, birding, snowmobiling, and camping at the October Mountain Sate Forest campground, across the road from the location proposed for the dump.
Any wonder the dissatisfaction, even rage?
GE, eliminate this expensive ($60 million to $70 million) over-built dump from the proposed wet location and put your money and effort into a better clean-up without the proposed dump.
David F. Carrington
Lee
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