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Berkshire Botanical Garden, Project Native Move Toward Merger

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The trustees of the Berkshire Botanical Garden and Project Native have been discussing for some time the benefits of joining forces, and last week both boards unanimously approved motions to pursue a combination.

Both nonprofit groups are still working out details but are optimistic that a final agreement can be reached and that the deal will close by the end of the year.

"Our missions are in complete alignment," said Matt Larkin, chairman of the board of BBG. "The importance to the well-being of our environment of preserving the native elements of our habitat has never been better understood or more at risk. This has been a major subject of our educational programming and field trips for many years, and combining with the resources of Project Native will make a huge difference to the quality and effectiveness of the service we provide to our community."


"This will be a great partnership," said Project Native Board Chair Erik Bruun. "Our very different resources and capacities will advance our common mission of environmental education and promoting native habitats. Adding the garden's powerful educational and marketing know-how will draw attention to our work better than we could alone."

The Berkshire Botanical Garden has grown significantly in recent years in terms of its revenue and programs. Its Education Department has been strengthened by recent hires and has expanded its reach into local schools and its Farm in The Garden Camp, as well as added more field trips to its schedule.

Project Native was founded in 2000 as part of the Railroad Street Youth Project. Project Native became its own organization in 2004, transforming a former 54-acre farm on North Plain Road in Housatonic into a wildlife sanctuary and native-plant nursery with excellent propagation facilities and a native butterfly house. Project Native is less than 10 minutes by car from the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge.

 


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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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