BERKSHIRE COUNTY

Coverage of Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

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Now Facing Lesser Charges, Pipeline Protesters Disappointed

By • May 11, 2017
Pipeline protesters and their supporters outside of Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington, Mass. after a hearing on May 11, 2017.
Adam Frenier / NEPR

Seventeen protesters arrested at the construction site of a natural gas pipeline in southern Berkshire county appeared in court Thursday in Great Barrington. And prosecutors tossed them a curveball.

Pipeline Work Begins, Protests Continue

By • Apr 27, 2017
Eastbound state route 57 entering Sandisfield, Mass.
John Phelan / Creative Commons

With work underway on a controversial natural gas pipeline in southern Berkshire County, activists are planning to protest at the site Friday.

A spokesperson for the company Kinder Morgan said crews are setting up erosion protection devices along the pipeline route in Otis State Forest, and tree cutting won't begin until that's complete.

Senators Warren, Markey Want Sandisfield Pipeline Halted

By • Apr 19, 2017
Eastbound state route 57 entering Sandisfield, Mass.
John Phelan / Creative Commons

Both Massachusetts U.S. senators are calling on federal regulators to halt a natural gas pipeline project in southern Berkshire County.

Community Works To Save Great Barrington Church With Du Bois Ties

By • Apr 17, 2017
The former Clinton AME Zion Church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Adam Frenier / NEPR

A church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, that civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois attended as a young man may have a new lease on life. 

The Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church is on the National Register of Historic Places, but has been closed for a few years and has fallen into disrepair. Now community members are buying the 130-year-old structure, with hopes of renovating it.

Berkshire Residents To GE: Don’t Dump PCBs In Our Backyard -- Again

By • Mar 30, 2017
A warning sign posted by opponents to a proposed toxic waste disposal site in the woods, near the Housatonic River in the village of Housatonic, Massachusetts.
Nancy Eve Cohen / NEPR

General Electric and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are battling over the last stretch of the PCB clean-up of the Housatonic River in Massachusetts from Pittsfield through Great Barrington.

GE is appealing the government’s clean-up plan, which is estimated to cost $613 million over 15 years. One big issue is where to put the toxic PCBs that are dug up from the river.

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