Since its unveiling in February 2020, the plan to remediate the polluted Housatonic River has been a lightning rod of controversy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brokered the agreement between communities along the waterway and General Electric – which dumped toxic chemicals into the river from a Pittsfield plant for decades in the 20th century. While local leaders signed off on the multi-million-dollar cleanup, county residents and environmental groups have rallied against it – none more so than those in Lee, where a new landfill would be constructed if the plan moves forward.
“Saturday, November 19th, 10 am, Lee Board of Health is holding an adjudicatory public hearing. And the intent of this is to request expert testimony with respect for the Board of Health to render a finding at some point if the proposed upland disposal facility, proposed by GE and EPA, will or will not be a health issue for the residence of Lee and adjoining communities," said James Wilusz, Director of Public Health of the Tri Town Health Department, which oversees Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge. “It's sort of a fact gathering process. We have asked EPA, GE, and others out in the community that have background in this topic to submit on the record expert testimony for the Board of Health to review and possibly render a finding.”
For opponents of the cleanup plan – who have continually fought the proposal in court since it was announced – it’s one more opportunity to stop what they perceive as an ecological disaster for Lee.
“There's a body of science, and actually from some EPA employees, that say that eventually all dumps will leak- Not to mention that the geology report on this dump is damning. You know, the geologists basically wrote that it's the textbook example of where you would never build a dump. But EPA and General Electric decide to go ahead with this anyway, and try to build it in our town down here in Lee," said Tim Gray, Executive Director of the Housatonic River Initiative. “We have an action in federal court in Boston trying to solve the problem, because in the actual plan, they're taking out maybe a third of the PCB, and leaving the rest. It's kind of like what they did in the Hudson River. And if you've been following the Hudson River, you know what a mess they're in right now. And so it seems to us that the whole thing is quite bad. And one thing I know is that the town elite does not want this dump in their town, and the rich towns around here, I think, are a little bit okay with it. But you know what, we have a right to fight with our town. And this hearing with the Board of Health is just another tool that might give us the chance to stop the dump.”
In a statement, the EPA told WAMC that while it would not attend the meeting, it maintains that the cleanup plan remains the safest and most effective way to address the ongoing pollution of the Housatonic, which currently is an uncontrolled, open-air toxic waste site in and of itself. General Electric did not respond to WAMC’s request for comment on this story.
As far as what the Lee Board of Health can do with the information it gathers at the meeting, Wilusz says he sees three possible outcomes.
“They could, A, render a finding that the proposed upland disposal facility is in fact a health risk for the residents of Lee and enjoining communities," he told WAMC. "B, that their proposed upland disposal facility is not a health risk for the residents of Lee and enjoining communities, and possibly C, the board could offer limitations on what the upland disposal facility could be. I'm not really sure what C would look like, but possibly the board can say well, instead of 100,000 tons, we're going to say 25 tons. I don't know. I'm just I'm kind of spit balling the possible outcomes. But A and B are pretty solid. C is a possible option that, you know, through our legal counsel, we could explore.”
Given the charged nature of public hearings about the river since 2020, Wilusz underscored that the meeting will not be a free for all.
“This is not a meeting designed for everyone to show up and offer opinions that the upland disposal facility is bad or PCBs are bad," he said. "This is really meant for engaging in collecting expert testimony only for the board to review and render a finding.”
More to the point, it’s unclear what impact the Lee Board of Health’s finding will have on an agreement made on the federal level between multiple communities and General Electric.
“We have no power or bearing whatsoever with respect to the Rest of the River five-town agreement," said Wilusz. "It's a totally separate thing.”
The Board of Health’s public hearing is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lee Middle and High School Auditorium.
