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EPA AWARDS BERKSHIRE COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP GRANT AWARD OF $50,000 TO ENHANCE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN GE - PITTSFIELD SITE CLEANUP

Release Date: 07/09/1998
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, Press Office (617) 918-1008 Mike McGagh, TAG Program Manager (617) 223-5534

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week awarded a $50,000 grant to the Housatonic River Initiative (HRI) to monitor cleanup activities at the General Electric site in Pittsfield.

The technical assistance grant will enable the environmental group to hire independent technical experts to review EPA studies and plans for cleanup decisions related to the GE-Pittsfield site.

Berkshire County environmental activists formed HRI in 1993 to address county-wide concerns about PCB contamination in the Housatonic River from the GE facility in Pittsfield. This is the first technical assistance grant awarded to the group by EPA.

The technical assistance grant program was established in 1986 as part of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. The grant provides concerned citizens the opportunity to hire independent technical experts - such as toxicologists, chemists, and biologists - to help them interpret complex technical information and site hazards related to cleanup work at federal Superfund sites. The New England office of the EPA has awarded 35 grants to date, more than any other region in the country.

EPA, GE and numerous other parties have been negotiating for months to try to reach a comprehensive agreement for remediating widespread PCB contamination on the GE property, the Housatonic River and numerous other parcels. Last August, EPA proposed the GE property and 33 miles of the Housatonic River as a Superfund Site.

PCBs, a group of organic chemicals, were used since 1926 in electric transformers as a coolant and insulation. GE used PCBs for manufacturing and servicing of electrical transformers at the Pittsfield facility from the 1930's through 1977. PCBs are extremely persistent in the environment because they break down very slowly and bioaccumulate in animals. Congress banned the use and distribution of PCBs in 1977.

For more information on HRI, contact Tim Gray at (413) 499-6112.