Silver Lake is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

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� ...

that has had environmental concerns and been subject to a clean-up effort by both the city of Pittsfield and the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Location

Silver Lake is bounded to north by Silver Lake Boulevard and Fourth Street, and the west and south by residential and commercial properties. It is approximately large with a maximum water depth of about .

Environmental

The lake currently receives storm water flow from several City outfalls and one NPDES-permitted outfall. The NPDES-permitted outfall receives storm water from a portion of the GE Plant Area that has been transferred to PEDA. Silver Lake drains to the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

by an underground diameter, concrete, culvert pipe located near the intersection of Fenn Street and East Street. Two significant oil spills have occurred in the lake, and garbage, sewage and PCBs have been dumped into it. The lake caught fire in 1923 due to the pollution.

Cleanup

The long-polluted lake has undergone a massive cleanup (July 2012 – December 2013) and has opened as a park to the public with water safe enough for activities like fishing and boating. Recently re-mediated Silver Lake is a recreational asset to the city, according to local officials, fit for picnics, boating and fishing. GE submits annual reports regarding the details of all of the inspection, monitoring and maintenance activities that occurred within the Silver Lake Area Removal Action Area over the course of a given year.

References

EPA Cleanups: GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site

External links

2014 Annual Monitoring Report Silver Lake Area
prepared by the

{{authority control Lakes of Massachusetts Lakes of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Pittsfield, Massachusetts