General Electric has filed formal comments on the U.S. EPA’s cleanup plan for the Housatonic River. The company dumped harmful chemicals called PCBs into the river from its Pittsfield plant from the 1930s until the substance was banned in 1977. GE is now responsible for cleanup work.In a 128-page document published online by The Berkshire Eagle, General Electric says the EPA’s 13-year $613 million remediation plan is far larger and more destructive than ones already rejected by the state of Massachusetts. EPA’s options ranged from doing nothing to a 52-year plan removing 2 million cubic yards of material instead of the proposed 1 million. The EPA’s Jim Murphy addressed the decision at a public hearing in September.
“We thought this plan is more-balanced,” said Murphy.
Murphy says the EPA has received about 125 comments and will respond to them over the next few months. GE says EPA went in a different direction than anticipated, but is committed to implementing a responsible remedy.
