Letter: A Simple Message

To the Editor:

Many of us grew up learning about Nazi Germany, asked to reflect on what we would have done had we lived through its rise. Maybe we even imagined ourselves resisting, speaking out, or helping those in danger.

Today, the president is reviving Guantanamo as a concentration camp, rounding up immigrants, dismantling scientific institutions, abandoning public safety, rolling back civil rights, and systematically erasing queer people. This is not a thought experiment. However we choose to act now is the answer to the question we once asked ourselves.

History is watching.

Chad Higdon-Topaz
Williamstown, Mass.

Concerns Over PFAS Spark Sewage Debate in Williamstown

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Tuesday, April 01, 2025

The composting facility at the intermunicipal wastewater plant is operating at about two-thirds capacity. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Forever chemicals are the source of a protracted debate for the Select Board.

 

Out of 15 fiscal articles on the warrant for the annual town meeting in May, the board last Monday voted to recommend passage of 14.

 

It delayed its decision on Article 5, which concerns the budget for the sewer department, more specifically the town's share of operating costs for the Hoosac Water Quality District.

 

Some members of the community, including a member of the Select Board, say the district is choosing a course of action that is at odds with the environmental principles that the town espouses.

 

The HWQD is a 55-year-old intermunicipal entity shared by Williamstown and the city of North Adams.

 

Residents of both communities on public sewer service send their wastewater to a treatment facility in Williamstown off Simonds Road (Route 7).

 

The facility cleans and treats the wastewater and discharges it into the nearby Hoosic River.