U.S. EPA | HOUSATONIC RIVER STATUS REPORT

LEARN MORE AT: www.epa.gov/region 1/ge

EPA to continue meetings with GE and the Public prior to finalizing a
proposed cleanup plan for the GE/Housatonic River Site

THE RIVER The Housatonic River is contaminated
with polychlorinoted biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous
substances re/eased from :fie General Electric Company
(GE) facility in Pitts field. MA. The entire site consists of the
254-ocre GE facility: the Houserton/c Rwer and its banks ond
floodplairts from Piitsfield. MA. to Long /stand Sound; and
other contaminated areas. Under a federal Consent Decree.
GE is required to address contamination throughout the site.
including in the River.

INTRODUCTION:

EPA arid the states have been working
cooperatively for the last several months to
discuss potential approaches to clean up
the Rest of River portion of the Housatonic
River contaminated with pollutants from
General Electrie's former Pittsfield, Mass.
facility. These discussions have focused, in
part, on the need to address the risks from
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to
humans, fish, wildlife and other organisms
while avoiding, mitigating or minimizing the
impacts of the cleanup on the unique
ecological character of the Housatonic
River.

EPA and the states recently released a
document called the "Status Report of
Preliminary Discussions of Potential
Remediation Approaches to the GE-
Housatonic River Site "Rest of River" PCB
Contamination." This summary document,
which recognizes that no remedy decisions
have yet been made, reflects the current
status of EPA and the states' efforts to
discuss and identify potential remedial
approaches for the Rest of River in light of
their shared goals and interests. The
document is available on EPA's web page.
httpAyvw-epa.gov/regicnl/ge/thesite/rest
of rive r/re p orts/50S662. pdf

Following a series of information meetings
and discussions with the public and GE
representatives during May and June, GE
has asked EPA for additional information
that could be useful in understanding the
potential remedial approach outlined in the
status report. A number of participants at

the public meetings also asked a variety of
questions that could not be answered
completely during the four public meetings.

EPA agrees that, prior to taking the next step
of completing our evaluation and issuing a
proposed cleanup plan for formal public
comment, it could be valuable to provide
additional opportunities for constructive
informal discussion on the conceptual
approach from all viewpoints. In order to
better inform those discussions, EPA is posting
to our website a considerable amount of
supporting information intended to clarify
certain aspects of EPA's evaluation for the
public and GE in advance of issuing a proposal
for formal public comment. EPA hopes this
will provide an understanding of how EPA has
progressed from the National Remedy Review
Board proposal to the current conceptual
approach.

One advantage is that all stakeholders will
have additional time this summer to review
the supporting information prior to the release
of a formal plan. During this period, EPA
anticipates holding a round of technical
meetings with GE. In parallel, EPA will also
hold technical or information meeting with
other interested stakeholders. Given GE's
significant interest and experience in
implementing remedies on the Housatonic
and at other locations, EPA believes this
technical dialogue will be useful and provide
greater clarity regarding the technical
approach described in the status report.

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KEY CONTACTS:

JIM MURPHY

U.S. EPA

(617) 918-1028

m u rp h^. j irr @e pa. gov

DENNIS SCHAIN

CT Depr of Energy &
Environmental Protection
(860) 424-3110
dennis.sehain@o:.gov

ED COLETTA

Mass DEP

(617) 292-5737

edmund.coletti@state.ma.us

BOB GRECO

MA Dept. of Rsh & Game
(617) 626-1556
bob.jyreco'Sstate.ma.us

GENERAL INFO:

EPA NEW ENGLAND

5 Post Office 5q.,

Suite 100

Boston, MA 02109-3912

TOLL-FREE
CUSTOMER SERVICE

1-888-EPA-7341

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Environmental Protection
^^mAgenty

August 2012

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Key Documents available for the technical
discussions

In May 2012, EPA published a status report entitled
"Potential Remediation Approaches to the
GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site 'Rest of River' PCB
Contamination". This status report provided an update to
the public on the discussions among the agencies and
outlined potential remediation approaches for the Rest of
River.

While considering additional input from community
stakeholders, the states, and EPA regional and national
technical staff over the past months, EPA has compiled
additional technical information, conducted additional
modeling work to refine potential remediation approaches,
and evaluated these approaches in light of the criteria
outlined in the Permit. As a result, EPA has developed a
number of technical documents which reflect the current
status of EPA's thinking regarding potential remedy
approaches for the Rest of River. These documents provide
additional detail on the cleanup approach first outlined for
the public in the May 2012 status report. Included in these
documents are:

•	Revised information on various alternatives
including more detail on potential performance
standards and corrective measures for the
potential approach to cleanup outlined in the
status report;

•	Information based upon additional modeling
conducted as part of the recent EPA/State
technical discussions as well as modeling
conducted in support of EPA's current remedy
outlook;

•	Various technical memoranda on modeling
assumptions, bank erosion, bank
stabilization/restoration, channel dynamics,
sediment cap design/river cross-sections, and
other concepts discussed with the states;

•	Evaluations regarding Woods Pond by the Army
Corps of Engineers, EPA consultants, and MassDEP
consultants;

•	Documents related to the approach to floodplains,
including endangered species habitat "Core Area"
designation information from the state, and EPA's
current floodplain and vernal pool outlook;

•	EPA's June 2011 Remedy Review Board Package

plus NRRB's comment memo and the region's
response memo.

EPA believes that release of this information at this time is
an important step in the process towards formally proposing
a cleanup plan and allows Stakeholders to review the most
current information being considered by EPA. While
recognizing that no formal remedy proposal has been made,
this information will help provide Stakeholders with a better
understanding of EPA's current thinking regarding potential
cleanup approaches.

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