Here is a chronology assembled from articles in local and regional media.
Highlights of the PCB legacy in Berkshire County
1935
Monsanto Corporation began the manufacture and marketing of PCB-base insulating oil, and although there were immediate health problems associated with exposure to PCBs – the U.S. Public Health Service suspected PCBs were linked to liver disease, it was decided to continue their use in the manufacture of capacitors and transformers, introduce them into other products, such as carbonless paper, inks, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, pesticide extenders, sealants and flame retardants, because it was considered “a miracle chemical” that could not be replaced.
Called “Pyranol” by General Electric, the PCB-based oil was introduced into the manufacture and repair of industrial transformers at Pittsfield’s “Works,” a 250-acre complex occupying the city’s east side. During World War II, the plant employed 18,000 workers.
1977
PCBs ceased being used by GE at its Pittsfield site after the Environmental Protection Agency proposes a ban on PCB manufacture.
April 19,1979
Environmental Protection Agency adopts regulations banning the manufacture of PCBs, declaring them to be a probable carcinogen.
1992
The Housatonic River Initiative (HRI), a non-profit coalition of Berkshire County residents, is formed to work to reclaim the Housatonic River system from years of neglect and decades of toxic PCB contamination.
Read about the Housatonic River Initiative
1997
PCBs detected in neighborhoods
At the Housatonic River Initiative’s suggestion, the state Department of Environmental Protection established a tip line 1-888-VIOLATE, so that people could tell what they knew about PCBs without worrying about GE retaliating, firing them or threatening their pensions. One tip was that a local and popular public park, Dorothy Amos Park, was constructed on top of land where PCB-contaminated fill had been buried. This discovery led to others, and soon whole neighborhoods were identified as having been built on PCB-contaminated fill from General Electric’s transformer works.
Read about PCBS and PITTSFIELD
1998
EPA orders cleanup of 2 miles of Housatonic River in Pittsfield, citing dangerous health risks to children and teenagers from the high levels of PCB concentrations within the city and contradicting General Electric’s denial of harmful effects from PCB exposure.
To avoid a Superfund designation, GE begins negotiations with the EPA, city of Pittsfield and other judicial and environmental agencies at the state and federal levels, in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, to hammer out an agreement about cleaning the PCB contamination at the GE site in Pittsfield, two miles of river and its floodplain. What is euphemistically termed “The Rest of the River,” from Pittsfield to Long Island Sound, is left to future negotiations to determine the level and scope of cleanup. The result is the Consent Decree. It takes two years to get it approved.
Read about the EPA’s ClEAN-UP ORDER
2000
The Consent Decree
After a year of hearings and legal wrangling, the Consent Decree is approved by Federal Court.
Read a summary of the CONSENT DECREE
2002
The cleanup and remediation of the upper half-mile of the Housatonic River within the confines of the General Electric facility is completed.
Read about the First Half-Mile Clean-Up
2002 –2006
The next 11/2 miles of the river are cleanup up, from the former GE facility to Fred Garner Park at the confluence of the West and East branches of the Housatonic River.
Read about the Mile and A Half Clean-Up
Recent history
Rest of the River:
Both General Electric and the EPA examine the extent of contamination in the river and its floodplain south of Pittsfield, in preparation for the issuance of a cleanup mandate.
Read about The Rest of the River
October 12, 2010
GE suggests landfilling PCBs in South County
General Electric issues its 1,200 page Revised Corrective Measures Study outlining its proposal for removing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Housatonic River south of Pittsfield, referred to as “The Rest of the River.” Among its options is the creation of three PCB landfills, in Lenox, Lee and Housatonic, to receive the PCB contaminated sludge extracted from the river bed and river banks. The GE proposal is met with outrage from local residents and town officials who vow to prevent PCB dumps in their towns. GE, however, has already quietly acquired property in Lee and Housatonic for the proposed landfills. Environmentalists characterize GE proposed cleanup methods as scare tactics.
Read more about GE Scheme for PCB Dumps
October 19, 2010
GE’s PCB dump proposal infuriates town officials
Furious opposition is arising to General Electric’s proposal to locate three toxic waste dumps within Housatonic, Lenox and Lee, as part of the removal of PCB contamination from the Housatonic River and its floodplain, rather than ship the toxic residue by rail to certified disposal sites. At a public information session at Town Hall Tuesday, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian A. Bowles, joined by Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Laurie Burt and Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin, heard an earful from South County residents.
Read more about the PCB Public Information Session
November 30, 2010
Opposition mounts to PCB dump proposal
GREAT BARRINGTON – The first session to protest the creation of three toxic waste dumps in South County drew a packed audience to the First Congregational this week. The protesters were demanding that General Electric abandon its scheme to deposit in three proposed landfills the millions of cubic yards of PCB-laced sludge the company may be compelled to remove from the Housatonic River.
One of those dumps is along the west bank of Rising Pond where 44 acres would contain 2.9 million cubic yards of contaminated material removed from a highly toxic seam of PCBs in Rising Pond.
Read more about Opposition mounts to PCB dump proposal
December 15, 2010
At the request of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which has surprisingly begun to disagree with EPA on the ecological risks of PCBs, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will extend the period January 31, 2011 during which it will accept public comments on the river cleanup approaches. The EPA will then review the GE Revised Corrective Measures Study and the public comments, as it assesses what river cleanup methods it will mandate. The EPA’s determination will be completed by fall of 2011. At stake is hundreds of millions of dollars GE will be ordered to spend on removal of PCB contamination.
1Berkshire, an alliance of business organizations, receives a $300,000 donation from General Electric, thanks to the efforts of GE lobbyists Bob Durand and Peter Larkin. The donation is not recorded on 1Berkshire’s books until January of 2011.
January, 2011
Berkshire Bank Foundation, at the request of Berkshire Bank President Mike Daly (and 1Berkshire Chairman) begins hurried preparations of the “Smart River Cleanup Coalition” Facebook web page that requests nonprofit agencies send a letter to the EPA supporting minimal PCB cleanup. Neither the public nor the nonprofits are aware that 1Berkshire’s campaign is supported by a GE contribution.
January 10, 2011
Secretly funded by GE, ‘Smart River Cleanup Coalition’ launches
Facebook public relations campaign for minimal PCB cleanup
Through its Facebook page and through e-mail from Berkshire Bank Foundation to its nonprofit clients, the Smart River Cleanup Coalition launches a campaign to solicit letters to the EPA supporting minimal PCB cleanup before the January 31 deadline.
When 1Berkshire, a consortium of four countywide development agencies, was formed last April, it described itself in lofty language – “a strategic alliance,” “a single point of service” — offering seamless access to Berkshire resources for business development. But it doesn’t have a Web site; it’s record of achievements obscure. Now it has a mission: “Smart River Clean-up,” thanks to a $300,000 donation from GE, the company that polluted the river in the first place.
Read more about Smart River Clean-Up
February 1, 2011
1Berkshire revises its position on cleanup;
admits GE is its largest donor
Faced with mounting skepticism about its motives and funding, 1Berkshire, an alliance of high-powered business organizations, has apparently reconsidered its position on removal of PCBs from the Housatonic River – at least as represented on its avatar Website, “Smart River Cleanup Coalition.”
Read more about 1Berkshire Backtracks on Smart Clean-Up
February 8, 2011
1Berkshire chief resigns
PITTSFIELD, Mass — The region’s major economic agents formed 1Berkshire last spring to coordinate efforts. Now they’re looking for a leader to turn paper goals into action. The organization, a unified head for the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation, the Berkshire Creative Economy Council and the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, has finished its fundraising and laying out its goals. Now to start making real impacts it needs someone to take the helm.
Click here to read more
February 27, 2011
GE donations to river group stir controversy
After first denying it had received a GE donation, 1Berkshire chairman Mike Daly, president of Berkshire Bank, finally admitted the business alliance had received a $300,000 contribution from General Electric, just before it began an advocacy campaign for a minimal cleanup of PCBs in the Housatonic River.
The controversy was the subject of a Sunday Boston Globe front-page feature: