GE Agrees to $200 Million Settlement

[Tony Chenhansa <cpro@cpeo.org>]

General Electric Agrees to $200 Million Settlement to Clean Up the
Housatonic River
Sept. 24, 1998

General Electric has agreed to an over $200 million settlement in
principle of environmental claims resulting from pollution of the
Housatonic River and other areas by chemical releases from GE's plant in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The claims result from a long history of GE's
use and disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) and other
hazardous substances at the plant, which GE no longer uses for
manufacturing.

GE's agreement to help fund an economic redevelopment package to benefit
the the City of Pittsfield is a significant part of this agreement. GE
has agreed to a ``brownfield'' redevelopment project on a portion of the
defunct plant, including a multi-million dollar investment in
Pittsfield, in conjunction with the new Pittsfield Economic Development
Authority (``PEDA''). PEDA will commit up to $4 million of anticipated
revenues from the redevelopment for further enhancement of natural
resources.

GE and the government agencies involved will now turn their attention to
negotiating a consent decree that will be the legal embodiment of the
settlement. Assuming that those negotiations are successful, the
settlement would be submitted to public comment and approval of a
federal judge before becoming finally effective.

For more information go to:

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/980924/u_s_attorn_1.html

--

Tony Chenhansa, Program Coordinator
Center for Public Environmental Oversight (Formerly known as CAREER/PRO)

425 Market Street 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA  94105
ph: 415-904-7751 fax: 415-904-7765
e-mail: cpro@cpeo.org
[Effective August, 1998, CPEO has adopted its own Internet domain,
<cpeo.org>. All of our old E-mail addresses, such as <cpro@igc.apc.org>
should continue to work.]

A program of the San Francisco Urban Institute