Public Comments Sought on Proposal to Reissue Corrective Action Permit for GE Pittsfield / Housatonic River Site

(Boston, Mass. – Sept. 17, 2007) – EPA announces a sixty-day public comment period, through November 16, 2007, for interested persons to submit written comments on a proposed reissued “Corrective Action Permit” to General Electric Company. The proposed Permit covers the “Rest of River” portion of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site which refers to the Housatonic River from the confluence of the East and West Branches in Pittsfield to the Derby Dam in Conn.

EPA is proposing to reissue the Permit for Corrective Action to extend the term of the Permit. The Permit is a part of the overall cleanup Consent Decree. The Current Permit would expire in 2010. To ensure that EPA is the lead government decisionmaker for the Rest of River project, EPA is proposing to reissue the permit so that its end date is not until 10 years from when the reissued permit is finalized. EPA is not proposing to make any other changes to the Corrective Action Permit. The State of Massachusetts concurs in this effort, and GE made a written application for reissuing the Permit.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments concerning the Draft Permit. Public comments will be accepted for sixty (60) days, from September 17, 2007 to November 16, 2007. Any person may request a public hearing, by submitting such request in writing by October 9, 2007, stating the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the hearing.

Comments on the Draft Permit are to be submitted to:

Susan C. Svirsky
Rest of River Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region I
c/o Weston Solutions
10 Lyman Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201

The Draft Permit, along with a Fact Sheet and the administrative record for the Draft Permit, are available at the following information repositories, during normal business hours:

Berkshire Athenaeum Public Library
Reference Department
1 Wendell Avenue
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-499-9488

Cornwall Free Library
30 Pine Street
Cornwall, CT 06796

Kent Memorial Library
32 North Main Street
Kent, CT 06757

EPA Records Center
One Congress Street, Suite 1100
Boston, MA 02114-2023
617-918-1546

MassDEP – Western Regional Office
436 Dwight Street
Springfield, MA 01103
413-784-1100

More information: The proposed Permit & Fact Sheet (epa.gov/region1/ge/cleanupagreement.html)

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Source: EPA