The founding of the Housatonic River Initiative (HRI) in 1992, a broad-based coalition of local environmentalists, sportsmen, and political leaders, was regarded by many as our last chance to put pressure on GE and the environmental and public health officials to actually do something significant about the problem. 

 It is first newsletter, HRI published “The Housatonic Manifesto,” which stated:

The Housatonic River Initiative sets forth the following objectives and commits itself to witnessing their achievement by the end of the 2oth century, so that the people of Berkshire County may celebrate the river and its gifts:

The Housatonic River and its associated tributaries and wetlands shall be cleansed of all toxins, including PCBs, and there shall be no discharge of waste into the river.

Broad reaches of land along the river shall be protected by public ownership , and the public shall enjoy access to both land and water in pursuit of pleasure and enjoyment; appropriate improvements such as foot trails, bicycle paths and boat launches shall be encouraged for the public enjoyment …

 On March 24, 1993 HRI mobilized the attendance of 300 people at a meeting with MADEP and the EPA to discuss public involvement in the clean-up effort.  At that meeting MADEP officials were presented with a letter to Commissioner Daniel Greenbaum which stated:

As members of the Housatonic River Initiative, an ad hoc coalition of environmental groups and concerned citizens, we have for many years been witness to the Commonwealth’s efforts to cleanse the Housatonic River of PCBs.  The years that have been consumed by studies and deliberations have caused us to lose confidence that real progress will ever come.

One reason for our loss of faith is that the Department of Environmental Protection has not sought to include the citizens of Berkshire County as active participants in the clean-up process.  This isolation from the process has often meant that we do not know what our public agencies, let alone General Electric, intend to do in regard to the clean up.

The lack of any consistent public citizen presence in clean-up activities is one of the reasons the process has been so disappointing to date.  However, the people of Berkshire County have recommitted themselves to asserting the public interest in restoration of the Housatonic River, and we would welcome a similar recommitment to public involvement on the part of the agencies.  Denying such involvement at this point would be a sad disservice to the citizens of this county.

To that end, the Housatonic River Initiative proposes to work cooperatively with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in drafting and signing a Memorandum of Understanding, which would spell out ways to keep Berkshire citizens involved in the Housatonic River clean up.

Based on HRI’s success and effective advocacy and our ability to represent a wide variety of stakeholders, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) has recognized HRI “as a primary citizens advisory group for these sites” suggesting that “interested citizens and other parties are encouraged to join forces under the HRI umbrella.”  (Revised PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PLAN for the Housatonic River and the General Electric Company Pittsfield Disposal Sites, prepared by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, April 1995, Pg. 66.)