Editing Pittsfield, Massachusetts (section)

====Environmental issues====
During the mid-20th century, the Housatonic River and its floodplain were contaminated with [[polychlorinated biphenyl]]s (PCBs) and other hazardous substances released from the [[General Electric Pittsfield Plant|General Electric Company (GE) facility]] in Pittsfield. The contaminated area, known as the General Electric/Housatonic River Site, includes the GE manufacturing facility; the Housatonic River, its riverbanks and floodplains from Pittsfield to Long Island Sound, and former [[Oxbow lake|river oxbows]] that have since been filled in; Allendale School; Silver Lake; and other areas contaminated as a result of GE's operations in Pittsfield.<ref name=epasitehistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/ne/ge/sitehistory.html |title=Site History and Description: GE/Housatonic River Site in New England |date=November 20, 2008 |publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |access-date=February 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121339/http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |archive-date=May 19, 2011}}</ref>

The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found from the site of the GE plant in Pittsfield to Woods Pond in [[Lenox, Massachusetts]], where they have been measured up to 140&nbsp;mg/kg (140 ppm).<ref name=USGS>{{cite journal |url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wsp2266 |title=Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Housatonic River and adjacent aquifer, Massachusetts |first1=Frederick B. |last1=Gay |first2=Michael H. |last2=Frimpter |year=1985 |publisher=USGS|doi=10.3133/wsp2266 |doi-access=free }}</ref> About 50% of all the PCBs in the river is estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds of PCBs.<ref name=USGS /> Birds and fish that live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rest of River of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site|date=June 25, 2015|url=http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/rest-river-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site|access-date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>