After the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency a 13 acres landfill in western Massachusetts, cconstruction has begun on the facility that will do so contains 1.3 million cubic meters of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated sediment from the Housatonic River.
General Electric expects the Lee, Massachusetts site to be completed by the end of 2027 and begin receiving sediment in 2028.
PCBs, used by General Electric in the manufacture of electrical transformers, were released into the river between the 1930s and 1970s and have been phased out for decades since then. In 2000, a consent decree forced General Electric to clean up the river, and in 2020 the company was ordered to build a new landfill.
A General Electric spokesperson said in an email to ENR, “Construction of a modern, safe facility … is a critical first step in implementing the US EPA-approved cleanup of the Housatonic River and its floodplains.”
