GE Buildings 12 & 14 Demolished in Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— General Electric's former Buildings 12 and 14 are demolished and the debris will soon be capped.

Last week, the public health and safety subcommittee received an update on the project that was paused over the summer after air sampling detected an exceedance of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs.)

Authorities said the measurements are "conservative" and do not threaten public health.

Work to demolish the two buildings began last year and was completed in September after it was temporarily halted on July 25. Debris will be set off-site for disposal at the end of the year, and the subsurface vaults will be sealed and capped soon after.

Richard Fisher, remedial project manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 1, emphasized that the monitors around the perimeter that borders Tyler Street Extension did not show an exceedance.

"The public was not widely informed of this contamination, and no effort appeared to be made to trace it to GE property," argued Valerie Anderson, a member of the EPA GE Citizens Coordinating Council.

"Toxic contamination still abounds in Pittsfield."

At the beginning of the meeting, a couple of residents voiced concerns about PCB contamination in Pittsfield and its effect on public health. Also on the agenda was an annual update on the Hill 78 and Building 71 capped landfills that abut Allendale School.

The GE buildings' demolition is not covered by the consent decree for PCB remediation and required state and local permits. Debris including steel and crushed concrete were consolidated in sub-surface vaults in the Building 12 complex, which is covered by the consent decree.

Asbestos, liquids, hazardous materials, intact drums, capacitors, or universal wastes were shipped off-site prior to demolition.

Restoration plans are not yet finalized but GE is consulting with the city and anticipates implementation of the restoration work next year.

"But we still monitor these and use that level just to sort of require engineering controls to be implemented if it starts going up to just to get it right back down so there is no long-term exposure."

All of PEDA's air monitoring data was below the notification and action level aside from that one sample, he reported, and all of GE's PCB data is non-detect except for two samples.

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso asked why there was an elevated level of PCBs on July 24.

"I don't want to speculate on exactly what the root cause was but I will say at the same time, in the same time period that the air monitors that are more reflective of public safety, which are all around the perimeter where air could get into the neighborhoods. None of those, you know, triggered any notification or action level," Fisher said.

"And it was right where GE was taking down a very large building. I don't know what the conditions were at the time, but that's why we would tell GE to stop work, figure out a way to make that not happen, and they couldn't start doing the work again until the air monitoring showed that the levels were all back down low again."

He added that PEDA had finished the work that required air monitoring after the detection, so there is no August data from the same monitor.

In August, Mill Town Capital announced that it would purchase 4.7 acres of Site 9, William Stanley Business Park's largest parcel. The investment firm's vision includes evaluating the development of a commercial building upwards of 20,000 square feet to provide office and lab space for growing local businesses.

Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto asked if there will be air monitoring in the new construction on the PEDA site. Fisher said if the groundwater data doesn't indicate a need, he doesn't see why that would be necessary.

"Strictly speaking about the groundwater as a source, the levels in the groundwater don't support the need," he said, adding that it would be a city decision.

Berkshire Organizations Celebrate Sucessess, New Locations in 2024

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:28AM / Tuesday, January 07, 2025

Second Street Second Chances in Pittsfield celebrates renovated and expanded space to provide resources and training for people who've done their time and are trying to reintegrate into the community.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In 2024, Berkshire County organizations saw new locations and successes in their fields.  

Downtown Pittsfield saw some new tenants — in fact, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. even relocated to North Street to be right on the pulse of activity.

Last month, 1Berkshire announced that it had sold its property at 66 Allen St. after 12 years and will move to the second floor of Crawford Square on North Street.

"It was not for lack of a fondness of the space. We love Central Station but like many other landlords, as we owned the building, we reached a point kind of post-pandemic where making those numbers with finding tenants and keeping commercial space full was becoming challenging," President and CEO Jonathan Butler said at the organization's annual meeting.

"And as a nonprofit where that's not primary to our mission, we made the decision that moving on from owning our own real estate was probably the best move. We actually quickly were able to identify a buyer and closed in August."

Moving into the space is another prominent local organization: the Elizabeth Freeman Center.

In mid-December, the domestic violence program and rape crisis center moved its main office from 43 Francis Ave. to 66 Allen St. Its satellite offices at 168 Main St. in Great Barrington and 61 Main St. in North Adams will continue to operate as normal.

The organization outgrew the former office's capacity and after months of searching for solutions, the EFC purchased the building with a mortgage from Lee Bank in August.