USA: Silver Lake Cleanup Begins Next Week

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the work on one of the most visible PCB cleanups in the city since the first two miles of the Housatonic River is set to begin next week.

General Electric Co.’s contractor, Sevenson Environmental Services, will begin staging Silver Lake next week for a two-year remediation project to deal with PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyl, contamination released from the company’s former 250-acre Morningside plant.

According to berkshireeagle.com, the majority of the work this year will center on excavation of contaminated soil and sediment along the banks of the 26-acre water body. Roughly 12,500 cubic yards of sediment and soil will be removed from the banks of the lake, of which 1,600 cubic yards are highly contaminated with PCBs.

This will require the removal of trees and other vegetation around the lake and temporary drawdowns of the water. And while there will be two major staging areas at the northeast and southwest corners of the lake, access will be required through all adjacent properties.

[mappress]

Dredging Today Staff, July 4, 2012