Unkamet Brook

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Unkamet Brook Success! Getting more scrutiny at BEAT's request Brief History DEP to review City plans GE to finally monitor flow!
Unkamet Brook enters the Housatonic River in Pittsfield above the two mile "cleanup". But where Unkamet Brook runs through the GE property, it is loaded with nasty chemicals including PCBs. This brook has the potential to dump even more PCBs into the Housatonic River above the PCB cleanup. At BEAT's request, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's, Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup, is reviewing all the plans for facilitating the flow in Unkamet Brook before work can proceed.
Unkamet Brook in Pittsfield flows into a wetland where Merrill Road and Dalton Avenue converge. This is the marshy area behind the current development that includes Dick's Sporting Goods - the former site of Bradlees. The outflow from this area flows into the Housatonic River at a point that is upstream from the major PCB remediation. The marshy area is contaminated with high levels of PCBs and many other toxic chemicals. This is not in dispute. This characterization is based on GE's data and public statements made by GE officials. BEAT has been requesting for a long time that the flow coming out of this area be monitored. Our most recent concern is related to a proposal by the City of Pittsfield to facilitate flow in Unkamet Brook. BEAT is pleased to report that both these issues are being addressed!
	This is a stylized diagram of Unkamet Brook, the marsh, and the brook's convergence with the Housatonic River. The important points to note for our discussion are the following. Unkamet Brook flows into the marsh. The marsh is contaminated with PCBs. Unkamet Brook leaves the marsh and flows into the Housatonic River. The place where Unkamet Brook flows into the Housatonic River is upstream of the part of the Housatonic River that has been "cleaned" of PCBs.
DEP to Review City Plans The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is reviewing the plans by the City of Pittsfield to "improve flow" in Unkamet Brook upstream of the GE marsh site. There are plans to remediate the marsh in the future, but according to GE, "we do not expect any work there for at least a few years." It is unfortunate that in the meantime, PCBs are running into the Housatonic River's PCB cleanup area. The City of Pittsfield is about to begin a project to clear areas of Unkamet Brook starting above the marsh. BEAT's concern is that this project, the cost of which will be over four hundred thousand dollars and which will begin in the spring of 2007, will increase the flow of Unkamet Brook. The city will fund $267,600 of the project, with the rest coming from grants. BEAT requested that DEP look at the project plans and the hydrology of this area to assure that more PCBs will not be flushed out of the marsh and into the part of the Housatonic River that was recently "cleaned". DEP's Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup agreed to review all the plans before the City can proceed with each phase of the work.
GE to Finally Monitor the Flow of Unkamet Brook BEAT has been complaining bitterly about there being NO data on the flow of Unkamet Brook. This lack of data means that no one knows how many PCBs or other chemicals are flowing out of Unkamet Brook, into the Housatonic River, ABOVE the two mile "cleanup". Finally, GE released a report in November 7, 2006, titled: Proposal for Initial Unkamet Brook Flow Monitoring (pdf). As BEAT suggested, this monitoring will be done over an extended period of time including the usual spring high flow season. It will be automated to get as much data as possible. And it will be done at the culvert at Dalton Ave and at a culvert under the railroad tracks on the property to get the data of how much flow enters the GE site and how much leaves. BEAT would prefer the second reading be at a location as the water leaves the GE site, or even closer to where the brook flows into the Housatonic River. However, we are thrilled that we will actually have some flow data for this brook!

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