Editing Polychlorinated biphenyl (section)

====Massachusetts====
[[Pittsfield, Massachusetts|Pittsfield]], in western Massachusetts, was home to the [[General Electric Pittsfield Plant|General Electric (GE) transformer, capacitor, and electrical generating equipment divisions]]. The electrical generating division built and repaired equipment that was used to power the electrical utility grid throughout the nation. PCB-contaminated oil routinely migrated from GE's {{convert|254|acre|km2|adj=on}} industrial plant located in the very center of the city to the surrounding groundwater, nearby Silver Lake, and to the [[Housatonic River]], which flows through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and down to Long Island Sound.<ref name="GE Pittsfield-history">{{cite web |title=Site History & Description |website=GE/Housatonic River Site in New England |url=http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |date=2011 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Boston, MA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121339/http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |archive-date=2011-05-19}}</ref> PCB-containing solid material was widely used as fill, including [[meander|oxbows]] of the Housatonic River. Fish and waterfowl which live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and are not safe to eat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rest of River of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site |url=https://www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/rest-river-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site |website=EPA Cleanups |date=2020-08-06 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> EPA designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the river as a [[Superfund]] site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. EPA and GE began a cleanup of the area in 1999.<ref name="GE Pittsfield-history"/>

[[New Bedford, Massachusetts#Geography|New Bedford Harbor]], which is a listed Superfund site,<ref name="EPA-New Bedford">{{cite web |title=General Information about the New Bedford Harbor Cleanup |url=https://www.epa.gov/new-bedford-harbor/general-information-about-new-bedford-harbor-cleanup |date=2020-09-15 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> contained some of the highest sediment concentrations of PCBs in the marine environment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/northeast/new_bedford/ |title=Case: New Bedford Harbor, MA |website=Damage Assessment, Remediation & Restoration Program |publisher=U.S. National Ocean Service |location=Silver Spring, MD |date=2009-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712092247/http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/northeast/new_bedford/|archive-date=2010-07-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Cleanup of the area began in 1994 and is mostly complete as of 2020.<ref name="EPA-New Bedford"/>

Investigations into historic waste dumping in the [[Bliss Corner, Massachusetts|Bliss Corner]] neighborhood have revealed the existence of PCBs, among other hazardous materials, buried in soil and waste material.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mass.gov/service-details/bliss-corner-neighborhood-dartmouth-ma |title=Bliss Corner Neighborhood, Dartmouth, MA |website=Environmental Issues & Sites in Southeastern Massachusetts |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection |location=Lakeville, MA |access-date=2020-10-15}}</ref>