Email to Berkshire Regional Planning Commission

Hi Tom,
I hope you are doing well. It's been many years, but you may remember meeting with me and Tom O'Brien when he was at the EOEA regarding LAPA-West, the Lakes and Ponds Association of Western MA. 

I recently noticed on your website that BRPC is helping to assist the Briggsville Water District, which supplies drinking water to 10% of Clarksburg, MA, in identifying and developing grant applications to make necessary upgrades to the Red Springs water supply infrastructure.

As you are probably already aware, there have been many serious issues with Housatonic Water Works Company's supply infrastructure, water quality, and extremely poor service for years. A large number of households experience dark brown, gritty, bad smelling, polluted water on a regular basis, but even more importantly all residents have been subjected to elevated levels of HAA5 (a carcinogenic substance) beyond the legal safety limit since at least 2001. Many residents cannot afford adequate whole-house water filtration units and ongoing supplies costing thousands of dollars or private wells to protect themselves, let alone unreasonable water rate increases. Since the town's water supplier is a private company they hope to soon pass on the expense of repairs and company enhancements to its customers by more than doubling their rates. They have raised rates in the past and always promise better water quality and service, but not only have things not improved, they have steadily worsened over the past 30 years as noted by a continuous stream of DEP violations. 

As of 2021 Housatonic Water works had on record 23 customers in Stockbridge, 66 in West Stockbridge, and 750 in Housatonic. Most community members are extremely frustrated, concerned about their health, and feel quite helpless since this has been going on for so long. I know this is a subject for local health departments, the DPU, and EPA, but since their hands seemed to be tied working with a private corporation, I'm wondering if you may be aware of any grant opportunities through BRPC that would directly assist the residents of Housatonic? There has been talk at selectboard meetings about the possibility of small grants that may enable one-time assistance with filters, but really nothing adequate or ongoing. Or, might there be a way to assist the towns of Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge to enable them to take better control of the situation? 

Thank you Tom. Any information, ideas, or help that you or anyone at BRPC can offer or refer us to would be more than greatly appreciated. 

​Kathy Regan
Grove Street, Housatonic