Michael Shook Conover Nc

PITTSFORD -- Residents of Pittsfield have until January 2012 to submit claims for reimbursement of air and water pollutant cleanup costs stemming from industrial releases that occurred at approximately 2,000 acres within Greater Pittsfield, a few miles from where the Wissler Chemical Plant operated between 1945 and 1966 and between 1971 and 2000. According to an annual report on the Pittsfield Chemical Facility, beginning April 1, 1967, greater Pittsfield, as well as parts of Orford, and of Pittsfield, and parts of Orford and Pittsfield, closed for reclamation, and toxic wastes were disposed of by the waste water treatment and transfer station.

"By law the land to be reclaimed was filled with the right-to-know and the site is contaminated with toxics," an application for a waiver of remedial actions was obtained from the then Mayor Andrew W. Bloome, former Borough President Timothy J. Russo, and from the Pittsfield General Hospital, at a meeting on January 16, 1979. The applications were approved by the Pittsfield City Council under the condition that the reclamation of the site involved the settlement of disputes and/or civil claims, including a host of ongoing lawsuits.

At the time of application the Pittsfield Redevelopment Agency had been working for a few years to obtain a "blanket" industrial park covering approximately 28,000 acres of mostly agricultural land that was to be open for industrial redevelopment. The application required two years of negotiation to negotiate the most industrialized portions of the site, before any work at the site could be done, and most of the industrialization would have taken place during the two years following the application. In addition, the application also required the demolition of the wastewater treatment and treatment plant that had previously occurred at Pittsfield Hospital.

In the end the Wissler Chemical Plant site would be built almost exclusively by four multinational chemical companies, and Pittsfield was found to have environmental violations that had to be addressed. The effort to remediate and remediate the site to a level of compliance, along with those efforts to initiate the cleanup of neighboring areas involving sanitary systems and water pollution control, are contained in other documents on the Nc Website provided by the Landlords of the site.