GE

General Electric

The River: It Ain’t Over

October 2, 2012
By Mickey Friedman

A loyal reader admonished me recently: “You haven’t written about the River in a while!”

Sometimes thinking about the thirty year fight for a PCB cleanup makes me want to go to sleep for a very long time.

The story of GE and PCBs is a story about how hard it’s been to wrench the truth from those who’ve always known the true costs of PCBs. The billions made versus the uncounted costs to human and environmental health: the years the workers have lost; the healthcare costs: and the toll its taken on our waterfowl, the fish.

We worked hard to find where they dumped the PCB waste. A children’s park here; an elementary school there. Landfill by landfill, backyard by backyard. The State argued with us. The Mayor attacked us. But workers, enviromentalists, and neighbors made the GE Housatonic River site a national battleground for a comprehensive cleanup.

GE Brought A Good Thing To Life

March 10, 2011
By Mickey Friedman

Having grown up on city streets, I wouldn’t have known a vernal pool if I had fallen into one.

Today I’m writing about vernal pools because they are central to the battle about how best to clean toxic PCBs from the Housatonic River.

The Vernal Pool

Vernal pools are “ephemeral fresh-water wetlands which do not hold water permanently and are free of breeding populations of fish.” (MA Fisheries and Wildlife). Fresh water pools formed by rain and snow during the autumn and winter, but dry at other times of the year. Because there are no predator fish, many important species are born in vernal pools. These species cannot live without these critically important vernal pools. (2011 Phase 4C Floodplain Property Vernal Pool Monitoring Summary, p.1: (http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/floodplain/reports/phase4/501650.pdf)

We’re talking about invertebrates like fairy shrimp (don’t tell Rick Santorum), daphnia, fingernail clams, water striders, and caddishflies. These inveterbrates don’t have backbones and make up 97% of all animal species. Then there are amphibians like green frogs, wood frogs, and salamanders. These “indicator species” are easy to collect and tell us what’s in the water and how it is effecting animal life.

When Green Is All About The Green

Mickey Friedman
November 18, 2011

You’re not going to want to read this if you’re paying an extra penny or two a kilowatt hour to buy green electricity.

Or you think we should sacrifice our mountaintops for wind turbines because they reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Convinced we’ll burn less coal.

You’ve been told green lies. Sold green by someone who’s been paid to sell green. By the electric utilities or environmental organizations paid by the utilities or the State.

The fact is we don’t have to subsidize big wind companies like GE, Vestas, or Iberdrola, their energy consultant friends at UMASS, and the Green Cartel nonprofits to destroy open space for electricity. Because we don’t really need the electricity.

We don’t need to lose another mountain in the Berkshires. Or to turn farmland in Great Barrington into a gigantic field of solar panels.

EPA: No Pressure from White House on Rest-of-River Cleanup

By David Scribner
October 23, 2011

A major section of the Rest of the River - from the confluence to Woods Pond.

LENOX – Even as the state Department of Environmental Protection presses ahead with its campaign for a minimal cleanup of (PCBs) from the Housatonic River floodplain, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which will have the final say on the cleanup approach and scope, is denying claims that it is under pressure from the White House to adopt the state’s less invasive criteria.

“This is simply not true,” declared EPA Region 1 Administrator Curt Spalding. He said that the agency was not under political pressure to “choose a Housatonic River cleanup plan that won’t protect the health of people or the environment in Berkshire County.”

In a prepared statement, he continued: “I have stated repeatedly that the EPA’s guiding principal as we identify a cleanup plan for the Housatonic is that we will rely on the best scientific evidence to determine what measures need to be taken to ensure that we are protecting peoples’ health and restoring the Housatonic to good ecological health. I remain committed to an open, inclusive and transparent process that is allowing the communities of the Berkshires to weigh in with their concerns and priorities for the Housatonic River.” READ MORE >>

The Fish, the Ducks, & the Clucks

By Mickey Friedman
October 21, 2011

The Fish are the fish that swim the Housatonic River; the Ducks are the ducks that travel the flyway, stopping to live for a bit in the Housatonic. And the Clucks, well read on, and make your own decision.

The men and women of the Commonwealth whose jobs are to protect our environment came to town the other day to explain their plan for the Housatonic River. The fish and ducks couldn’t make the meeting. But the Lenox Town Hall was packed with people, many vigorously endorsing a more comprehensive cleanup, some enthusiastically supporting the state’s proposal for a cleanup of Woods Pond, but a plan that leaves most of the river and floodplain the way it is.

Some of the toxic PCBs the State thinks we should leave in the floodplain because we shouldn't destroy the river to save it. Because saving it is worse than not saving it. Because actually saving it is something only the EPA wants to do.

“Cluck,” by the way, as in “dumb cluck,” is a word often used on the street to describe someone who is more stupid or foolish than detestable.

Kenneth Kimmel, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Mary Griffin, the Commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) brought some DFG staff scientists to help us understand their plan.

That the DEP and DFG presentation impressed some people is a testament to the fact that it is a royal pain in the ass to read all the thick and very boring scientific reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers have assembled the last twenty years. Not even the crack commentators at the Berkshire Eagle have the time to tackle those reports. Thankfully, the Commonwealth decided to offer some easy-to-digest, non-scientific non-facts.

Governor Patrick’s team made several points. One: you can’t really effectively clean the areas where most of the PCBs are because those are environmentally sensitive areas – and that’s where all the fragile, endangered species hang out. That’s the section of the Housatonic River which bends and curves – the fancy scientific term is “meanders.” It’s where 75% of the PCBs are: in the meandering river and on the riverbanks and in the adjacent floodplain. Too complicated. We can’t clean it without destroying it. The same thing GE says.

The Rising: A Fishable, Swimmable Rising Pond

By Mickey Friedman
August 12, 2011

GE sees Rising Pond and sees a PCB dump. I see Rising Pond and I see a gem, the cornerstone of a renewed and restored Housatonic, Massachusetts.

I see people fishing on the banks, and community picnics. I see families swimming. Summer nights and fireworks.

Rising Pond - Photo: Mickey Friedman

GE’s 2010 Corrective Measures Study (CMS) offers a range of cleanup alternatives for the Rest of the Housatonic River. The 1200 page CMS is not easy to navigate. They’ve divided the river into various reaches: 5a, 5b, 5c from the confluence of the East and West Branches to Woods Pond, then Reach 6 for Woods Ponds, Reach 7 down to Rising Pond, which is Reach 8, while Reach 9 goes to the Connecticut border.
READ MORE >>

Conflicting Ideas for the EPA Remedy Review Board

By Mickey Friedman
August 5, 2011

EPA Region One officials responsible for the GE/Housatonic River site spent two days on July 27-28, 2011 presenting a cleanup plan for “The Rest of the River” to the agency’s National Remedy Review Board (NRRB).

Woods Pond - Photo EPA

Made up of senior technical and policy experts from EPA regions across the country, NRRB serves as a peer review board mandated to ensure that any Housatonic River cleanup decision is consistent with other EPA remedies, cost-effective, and contributes to protecting human health and the environment.

While local EPA officials, GE, and the citizens of Berkshire County await a decision – said to take approximately 60 days while first the NRRB makes comments, and then the Region One officials refine their proposal – it’s instructive to take a look at some of what Berkshire stakeholders told the NRRB. The EPA posted these comments on August 1, 2011.

Of Kids, Toxic Chemicals, the EPA, and Industry

July 26, 2011
By Mickey Friedman

An unborn child - Photo: EPA Office of Children's Health Protection

According to a new report by Arthur A. Elkins, Jr. and his Office of Inspector General at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA’s own “Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program” (VCCEP) did not achieve its stated goal to protect children’s health.

Touted by the Clinton Administration as a program to give parents more information about toxic chemicals and their children’s exposure to toxics, an April 21, 1997 Executive Order directed EPA to undertake testing on chemicals to which children were disproportionately exposed.

With input from industry, EPA created a voluntary pilot program to assess the possible risks from 23 chemicals:

EPA asked the manufacturers and importers of 23 chemicals to volunteer to provide data sufficient for EPA to evaluate the risks of these chemicals to children’s health …Thirty-five companies and 10 consortia volunteered to sponsor 20 of the 23 chemicals by June of 2001.

EPA: Moving Ahead with Housatonic River Cleanup Process

July 14, 2011
Mickey Friedman

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today signaled its intention to proceed as scheduled with its plans to present cleanup options for the Housatonic River to EPA’s National Remedy Review Board (NRRB).

Housatonic River - The Rest of the River

The EPA had recently received letters from General Electric (GE), Rep. John Olver, Senator Scott Brown, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts asking for a delay to allow the Commonwealth and GE more time to provide input.

In joint letters to Richard K. Sullivan, Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, to GE, Rep. Olver, and Sen. Brown, Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response at EPA and Curt Spalding, EPA Region One Administrator, reaffirmed EPA’s “working relationship with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” and their belief that the Commonwealth is “a critical partner in our efforts to protect human health and the environment and our shared goal of selecting the best remedy for the river.”

The EPA officials also assured the Commonwealth that the forthcoming meetings with the NRRB were designed “to help EPA senior management better understand the cleanup options” but would not result in a “final remedy decision.”

The PCB Wars: The Commonwealth et al vs. EPA

By Mickey Friedman
July 11, 2011

What do Massachusetts Congressman John Olver, Sen. Scott Brown, General Electric, and officials at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs all have in common?

Together, they’re doing their best to influence the Environmental Protection Agency.

Woods Pond - Photo EPA

They’re trying to intervene in EPA’s internal process and delay a cleanup decision for the “Rest of the River.” The “Rest of the River” is the name given by the EPA to the PCB-contaminated Housatonic south of the confluence of the East and West branches. The heavily-contaminated first two-mile section of the River in Pittsfield has already been cleaned.

Finally, after decades of peer-reviewed scientific studies of the fish and frogs and ducks and benthic invertebrates, the detailed computer-modeling plan of how the river flows, how and where the PCBs move, the EPA is crafting a clean-up plan.

The way the process works is EPA takes GE’s suggestions as presented in its more than 1,000-page Corrective Measures Study (CMS), checks all the public comments from interested parties and analyzes all the data it has collected over the years and comes up with a plan.

George Wislocki: Goodbye Berkshire Bank

Housatonic River: Two-mile section, top left; Rest of River; right. Click map for a larger image. (Map: EPA)

July 3, 2011

Editor’s Note: The cleanup of the Housatonic River has reached a critical phase. You may remember that in 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the City of Pittsfield negotiated a consent decree with General Electric (GE) that laid out a clear plan to clean up two miles of the heavily PCB-contaminated portions of the Housatonic River. The parties agreed upon a process to arrive at a cleanup decision for the next long portion of the river south of the confluence of the east and west branches, called the “Rest of the River.”

There is much controversy about how best to clean this portion of the Housatonic. GE has made a slick movie advocating for the “natural recovery” of the river, claiming that a rigorous cleanup would destroy the river to save it — while also claiming that wildlife seem to be flourishing despite any PCBs.

However, the EPA’s peer-reviewed Human Health Risk Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment show a different picture: A heavily contaminated river that poses a very real threat to public health and the health of the river’s wildlife.

Many parties are attempting to influence the EPA as it tries to figure out a plan for the river. GE’s video has been widely distributed by the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is pressuring the EPA to endorse a limited cleanup. And recently a new super-agency in Berkshire County — a coalition of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, the Berkshire Visitor’s Bureau, and Berkshire Creative — have formed 1Berkshire. The first initiative of 1Berkshire was to form The Smart Cleanup Coalition and try to influence the debate on the Rest of the River. On its Facebook page, the Smart Cleanup Coalition advocates for what it calls “a low-impact clean up of the Housatonic River.”

Although first denying any ties to GE, Michael Daly, the president of Berkshire Bank and one of the founders of both 1Berkshires and the Smart Cleanup Coalition, admitted that 1Berkshire had received $300,000 from GE but he insisted there was no quid pro quo. He insisted that 1Berkshire’s position on the river clean-up, and the launch of the Smart Cleanup Coalition as 1Berkshire’s first public project, was in no way connected to substantial funding from GE.

George Wislocki is the founder of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council and is responsible for protecting thousands of acres of Berkshires land. He is currently on the board of directors of Green Berkshires.

He has given Red Crow News permission to share his letter to Berkshire Bank.
READ MORE >>

Supreme Court: No To GE Challenge of Superfund

Rising Pond, Housatonic, MA – Site of Possible GE PCB Dump

In a move that has significant ramifications for the multi-million dollar PCB-cleanups of the Hudson and Housatonic rivers, the United States Supreme Court decided not to hear arguments in General Electric v. Lisa Jackson, administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, No. 10-871., clearly resolving the issue in favor of the US EPA.

Click here to read more

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GE

The River: It Ain’t Over

GE Brought A Good Thing To Life

When Green Is All About The Green

EPA: No Pressure from White House on Rest-of-River Cleanup

The Fish, the Ducks, & the Clucks

The Rising: A Fishable, Swimmable Rising Pond

Conflicting Ideas for the EPA Remedy Review Board

Of Kids, Toxic Chemicals, the EPA, and Industry

EPA: Moving Ahead with Housatonic River Cleanup Process

The PCB Wars: The Commonwealth et al vs. EPA

George Wislocki: Goodbye Berkshire Bank

Supreme Court: No To GE Challenge of Superfund

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