If you live within three miles of the Housatonic River, there is a good chance you are exposed to volatilized PCBs coming from the River. Dr. David Carpenter, one of the nation’s leading expert on the health effects of PCBs spoke recently in Lee, Massachusetts. For many years, we were told that the leading pathway for human exposure to PCBs, for those who weren’t working with PCB-contaminated oil, was through eating animal fats, from contaminated fish for example. But Dr. Carpenter’s recent research shows how inhalation – breathing in PCBs – is a major concern. Please watch:
A Cleanup That’s Arbitrary & Capricious
What would you say if we told you that the latest cleanup decisions for the Housatonic River were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and, last but not least, contrary to law? That you can say the same thing about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to allow GE to build a massive PCB dump in Lee, Massachusetts.
On March 5, 2021, three Boston attorneys made those claims on behalf of the Housatonic River Initiative (HRI) and the Housatonic Environmental Action League (HEAL) before the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).
Based in Berkshire County and Connecticut, HRI and HEAL are contesting the final cleanup decisions for the “Rest of River” downstream from the confluence of the East and West Branches and two miles from the GE plant. The EAB is the last venue for trying to influence the cleanup decision within the EPA process. The last resort would be to contest the decision in federal court.
We’re going to post copies of the HRI and HEAL brief and all the attachments that accompany the brief below so you can study them and make up you own mind:
BRIEF OF HOUSATONIC RIVER INITIATIVE AND HOUSATONIC ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION LEAGUE FOR REVIEW OF 2020 REVISED FINAL PERMIT MODIFICATION TO THE 2016 RCRA PERMIT ISSUED TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY FOR REMEDIATION OF THE HOUSATONIC RIVER “REST OF RIVER”
March 5, 2021
Petitioners HRI-HEAL Brief on RCRA Appeal 21-01 (3-5-21) #
Attachment 1
Petitioners’ Public Comments on the Draft 2020 Permit, filed September 18, 2020 (SEMS-649388), available at: https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/649388.pdf
649388
Attachment 2
Hazardous Waste Program at EPA New England, Site Update (January 2011) (SEMS-477424) available at: https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/477424.pdf
477424
Attachment 3
Mass. Exec. Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, “Designation of the Upper Housatonic River Area of Critical Environmental Concern located in portions of the Municipalities of Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield and Washington With Supporting Findings” (Mar. 30, 2009), available at https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/up/uhr-des.pdf
uhr-des
Attachment 4
EPA Response Brief, In re GE, RCRA Appeal 16-01 (filed with EAB Feb. 14, 2017)
4. EPA Response Brief in RCRA Appeal 16-01
Attachment 5
D. Scribner, “GE Distributes Dollars to Influence River Debate, Berkshire Eagle (May 4, 2011), available at https://www.redcrownews.com/pcbchronicles/ge-distributes-dollars-to-influence-river-debate/
5. Scribner, GE Distributes Dollars to Influence Debate
Attachment 6
David J. De Simone, PhD, Geological Evaluation of UDF Site
6. David Desimone Expert Report
Attachment 7
EPA Community Update (Aug. 2009), available at https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/456069.pdf
7. EPA Community Update Aug. 2009
Attachment 8
Report of Audrey A. Cole, Certified Real Estate Appraiser and Attorney and Statement of Janice Braim, Licensed Realtor
8. Report of Audrey Cole- Statement of Janice Braim
Attachment 9
Statement of Chris Young, Founder/CTO of Biotech Restorations
9. Statement of Chris Young of Biotech Remediation
Attachment 10
Letter from James Galligan, Senior Vice President-Thermal, TerraTherm
10. Letter from James Galligan of TerraTherm
Attachment 11
Confidential Hudson River Strategy Report (Jan. 17, 1991)
11. Confidential Hudson River Strategy Report
Attachment 12
EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Directive 9200.417P, “Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation at Superfund, RCRA Corrective Action, and Underground Storage Tank Sites” (1999)
12. EPA Directive on Use of MNR 1999
Attachment 13
EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Directive 9283.136, “Use of Monitored Natural Attenuation for Inorganic Contaminants in Groundwater at Superfund Sites” (2015)
13. EPA Directive on Use of MNR 2015
Attachment 14
David O. Carpenter, “Exposure to and health effects of volatile PCBs,” Rev Environ Health 2015
14. Carpenter, Exposure to Health Effects of Volatile PCBs
Attachment 15
U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, “Technical Protocol for Evaluating Natural Attenuation of Chlorinated Solvents in Ground Water, No. EPA/600/R-98/128 at 1 (Sept. 1998)
15. EPA Technical Protocol for Evaluating MNR 1998
Attachment 16
Avatar Environmental, “Sediment PCB Data Summary for Connecticut” (Mar. 23, 2015).
16. Sediment PCB Summary for Connecticut
Attachment 17
EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Doc. No. 9355.4-25, “Performance Monitoring of MNA Remedies for VOCs in Ground Water” (Sept. 2003)
17. EPA Guidance for Monitoring MNA Remedies 2003
Attachment 18
Public Comments of Mickey Friedman, Member of Housatonic River Initiative (Sept. 2020)
18. Comments of Mickey Friedman of HRI