Housatonic River, Massachusetts. (Doug Kerr/Flickr Photo)
General Electric Co. is balking at a federal plan requiring it to remove huge amounts of toxic chemicals from the Housatonic River.
According to an article on BostonGlobe.com, GE is sharply objecting to a new federal plan that would force it to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to remove massive amounts of toxic chemicals from the Housatonic, which the company polluted for nearly 50 years.
The industrial giant, which last month said it will move its headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Boston, contends it should be allowed to dispose of dredged pollutants in landfills near the river in the Berkshires, despite state regulations that require the toxic sludge to be taken out of Massachusetts.
In a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency last month, company officials argued it should be exempt from state hazardous waste regulations and other environmental rules.
Read about GE opposing a cleanup plan for the Housatonic River.