The General Electric Pittsfield Plant, which included Air Force Plant 69, was a plant of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

located in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. GE acquired the facilities of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company in 1903. From ''circa'' 1932 until 1977, the Pittsfield Plant discharged PCB

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

to the Housatonic River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic as a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. EPA and GE began a cleanup of the area in 1999. GE demolished some buildings on the site in the 1990s. Other buildings were demolished between 2001 and 2010. GE transferred some of the cleaned-up properties to the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority (PEDA). As of 2022 GE has completed remediation and restoration of the 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city, and GE and PEDA are conducting inspection, monitoring and maintenance activities. Cleanup of the polluted downstream river areas has not been completed as of 2022.

References

{{MAMilitary Plants of the United States Air Force Buildings and structures in Pittsfield, Massachusetts General Electric Superfund sites in Massachusetts