The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is updating the public at a meeting in Lenox, Massachusetts, Wednesday on water sampling near the former General Electric plant in Pittsfield.
As part of the cleanup agreement of the Housatonic River, General Electric monitors the ground and surface water near its former plant in Pittsfield.
GE found in two separate areas that the levels of a chemical solvent, chlorobenzene, exceed the standards set by the cleanup agreement.
Dean Tagliaferro of the EPA said the agreement requires GE to investigate the impact on the local environment, including Unkamet Brook, which discharges into the Housatonic River.
"GE needs to do the research, subject to EPA review," Tagliaferro said, "and see what the toxicity levels are, what it's toxic to, if those receptors are in the Unkamet Brook or not, and what the appropriate standard is."
Right now, GE is not required to clean up the water, but the company does have to study the risks and propose a new standard to the EPA.
