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EPA to Hold Information Meeting on Cleanup of the 1½ Mile Reach of the Housatonic River

Release Date: 05/11/04
Contact Information: Contact: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Involvement Office, (617) 918-1064

For Immediate Release: May 11, 2004; Release # 04-04-08

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be holding a public information meeting on Thursday, May 20, 2004 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Italian American Club in Pittsfield, MA to discuss the ongoing cleanup of the 1 ½ Mile Reach of the Housatonic River.

EPA has already removed 36,000 cubic yards of sediment and soil from the 1 ½ Mile Reach of the Housatonic River. The agency estimates that the project is about one-third of the way complete. EPA is placing clean fill and riprap (rocks) along the river bottom and replanting the river bank with hundreds of native trees and shrubs.

The second phase of work, from Elm Street to Dawes Avenue, began last fall. At the May 20 meeting, EPA representatives will discuss the ongoing work in more detail. Phase three, the last stretch of the 1½ Mile cleanup, between Dawes Avenue and Fred Garner River Park, is anticipated to begin in 2005.

The cleanup of the 1 ½ Mile Reach is part of the Consent Decree negotiated in 2000 between EPA, General Electric and other government agencies. Additional information on the GE Pittsfield / Housatonic River site, can be found on EPA's web site at: www.epa.gov/ne/ge