Housatonic River#cite ref-3

Indigenous people began using the river area for fishing and hunting at least 6,000 years ago. By 1600, the inhabitants were mostly Mohicans and may have numbered 30,000.{{cite web|title=A Paddling Guide to the Housatonic River in Berkshire County|url=http://www.hvatoday.org/assets/PDFs/BerkshirePaddleGuide.pdf|website=HVA Today|publisher=Housatonic Valley Association|access-date=1 October 2015|archive-date=1 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801140659/http://www.hvatoday.org/assets/PDFs/BerkshirePaddleGuide.pdf|url-status=live}}

The river's name is derived from the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond the mountain place" or "river of the mountain place".Housatonic Valley Association. Cornwall Bridge, CT. [http://www.hvatoday.org/about-the-housatonic-valley/exploring-the-valley/history-of-the-housatonic-valley/ "History of the Housatonic Valley."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002070340/http://www.hvatoday.org/about-the-housatonic-valley/exploring-the-valley/history-of-the-housatonic-valley/ |date=2015-10-02 }} Accessed 2015-10-1. It is referred to in the deed by which a group of twelve colonists called "The Proprietors" captured the land now called Sherman and New Fairfield as "Ousetonack".{{cite book|last1=Simon|first1=Irving B.|title=Our Town: The History of New Fairfield|date=1975|publisher=New Fairfield Bicentennial Commission|location=New Fairfield, Connecticut|page=5}} Samuel Orcutt, a 19th-century historian, explained the term's pronunciation as "more properly...Howsatunnuck" and also noted an early spelling in the form of "Oweantinock".{{cite book|last1=Orcutt|first1=Samuel|title=The Indians of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Valleys|date=1882|publisher=Case, Lockwood & Brainard|location=Hartford|page=[https://archive.org/details/indianshousaton00orcugoog/page/n140 108]|url=https://archive.org/details/indianshousaton00orcugoog|access-date=10 November 2015}} Prior to the 18th century, the river was alternatively known as the Pootatuck River. Accounts differ on the origin of this name, with some claiming that Pootatuck is an Algonquian term translating to "river of the falls"{{cite news|last1=Raacke|first1=Peg|title=Town History: Housatonic Valley Indians|publisher=Citizen News (New Fairfield)|date=April 28, 1977}} while others relate the term was eponymous, reflecting the name of the tribe that had their principal village along the river in the area of Newtown, Connecticut.{{cite book|last1=Cothren|first1=William|title=History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from the first Indian deed in 1659 ... including the present towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlehem, Roxbury, and a part of Oxford and Middlebury|date=1854|publisher=Bronson Brothers|location=Waterbury, Conn.|page=11|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient02coth#page/10/mode/2up/search/pootatuck|access-date=13 October 2017}} "Pootatuck River" eventually came to refer a lesser tributary in the Housatonic watershed which empties into the Housatonic River at Sandy Hook, Connecticut.{{cite web|title=Pootatuck River & Deep Brook - Nutmeg Trout Unlimited|url=http://www.nutmegtrout.org/fishing/where-to-go/pootatuck-river/|website=Nutmeg Trout Unlimited|publisher=Trout Unlimited: Nutmeg Chapter|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-date=30 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930155919/http://www.nutmegtrout.org/fishing/where-to-go/pootatuck-river/|url-status=live}}

The river passes through land that was formerly occupied primarily by native people of Algonquian lineage, typically living in villages of two to three hundred families housed in hide wigwams.{{cite book|last1=Silverberg|first1=J.|title=The History of Squantz Pond State Park, New Fairfield, CT|date=June 1979|publisher=manuscript from New Fairfield Free Public Library|location=New Fairfield, Connecticut}} These native inhabitants burned the forests along the Housatonic Valley in the autumn to keep the underbrush down, a practice which was customary throughout Connecticut prior to European settlement.{{cite book|last1=Tomaino|first1=Peter|title=Chronology: Under Candlewoods, Roots at Squantz Pond|date=1985|publisher=EARTH ONE|location=West Cornwall, CT}}

File:Houstatonic river.jpg

One notable native was Chief Squantz of the Schaghticoke tribe, who still hold a portion of the former reservation on the west side of the Housatonic River, in what is now called the town of Kent.

English settlement of the northern Housatonic Valley began in 1725 in Sheffield, Massachusetts. By 1734, Mohicans established the Indian Town of Stockbridge, which grew over 15 years but then failed, with land pressures increasing.

File:Great Falls, Housatonic River, Falls Village, CT.jpg below the Falls Village dam]]

The river has been a source of power for paper, iron, textiles, and electricity industries. At Great Barrington, a grist mill built by David Ingersoll in 1739 used the river for power. The paper industry grew using the river's power from circa 1800.

The river was dammed with the advent of industry. In 1900, there were 30 dams on the river in Pittsfield. Many have been removed, but many remain, such as the Woods Pond dam in Lenox, Columbia Mill dam in Lee, Willow Mill dam in South Lee, Glendale dam in Stockbridge, and Rising Pond dam in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Five dams impound the river in Connecticut to produce hydroelectricity: the Falls Village, Bulls Bridge, Shepaug, Stevenson and Derby dams. The last three dams form a chain of lakes: Lake Lillinonah, Lake Zoar and Lake Housatonic, from New Milford south to Shelton.

File:Housatonic River at the Old Covered Bridge, Sheffield MA.jpg in Sheffield. The former Thom Reed UFO Monument Park is to the right of the bridge.]]

Three wooden covered bridges cross the Housatonic River. Two are in Connecticut: one known as Bull's Bridge, which spans the river between Gaylordsville and Kent, and another at Cornwall, known as the West Cornwall Covered Bridge. Reinforced with present-day materials, both bridges carry normal vehicle traffic, albeit in only one direction at a time. The third bridge, Old Covered Bridge located in Sheffield, Massachusetts, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1998; it is now open only to foot traffic.[http://www.coveredbridgesite.com/ma/sheffield.html Massachusetts Covered Bridges - Upper Sheffield Bridge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028153703/http://www.coveredbridgesite.com/ma/sheffield.html |date=2012-10-28 }}. Coveredbridgesite.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-15.

Lydia Sigourney's poem The Housatonic is in her volume, Scenes in my Native Land, 1845, where it accompanied by descriptive text on the river and its neighbourhood.{{cite web| last =Sigourney|first=Lydia|title=Scenes in My Native Land| url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=DzhkAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA124&hl=en| year=1845 |publisher=Thurston, Torry & Co.}}

The United States Navy named a ship for the Housatonic River. The {{USS|Housatonic|1861|6}} has the distinction of being the first ship in history to be sunk by a submarine, the Confederate vessel CSS H.L. Hunley, in 1864.

Inspired by the river during his honeymoon, the American classical music composer Charles Ives wrote "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" as part of his composition Three Places in New England during the 1910s, drawing his text from a poem of the same name by Robert Underwood Johnson. The town of Stockbridge is located in southwestern Massachusetts. The river enters Stockbridge on the east side of town before turning south toward Connecticut.

There was a 1962 American nuclear weapon test of the same name; several such tests used Native American words as codewords.

In 1969, nine-year-old Thom Reed and his family claimed to see a bright light rise from the Housatonic River, then found themselves inside "what appeared to be an airplane hangar," where they saw creatures that "resembled large insects." Supporters of the family erected a memorial to the incident at the Old Covered Bridge in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in 2015. The 5,000-pound memorial was removed by the town in 2019. The incident featured in a 2020 episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix.{{Cite web|title=Site of the First 'Historically True' UFO Encounter in the U.S.|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/thom-reed-ufo-monument-park|access-date=2021-03-03|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|archive-date=2021-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304101357/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/thom-reed-ufo-monument-park|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=2019-06-06|title=Sheffield town crew hauls away UFO monument; 'off-world' witness vows to 'file charges'|url=https://theberkshireedge.com/sheffield-town-crew-hauls-away-ufo-monument-reed-vows-to-file-charges/|access-date=2021-03-03|website=The Berkshire Edge|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111235848/https://theberkshireedge.com/sheffield-town-crew-hauls-away-ufo-monument-reed-vows-to-file-charges/|url-status=live}}{{Citation|last=Clarke|first=Marcus A.|title=Berkshires UFO|date=2020-07-01|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11229146/|type=Documentary, Crime, Mystery|others=Jane Green, Tom Warner, Thom Reed, Nancy Reed|access-date=2021-03-03|archive-date=2021-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526021625/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11229146/|url-status=live}}

Historically, the Housatonic River and its Naugatuck River tributary hosted the southernmost spawning runs of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).{{cite report |title=Status Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in the United States. Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |author=Fay, C. |author2=M. Bartron |author3=S. Craig |author4=A. Hecht |author5=J. Pruden |author6=R. Saunders |author7=T. Sheehan |author8=J. Trial |date=2006 |page=294 |url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/statusreviews.htm |access-date=2014-11-08 |archive-date=2014-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217001710/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/statusreviews.htm |url-status=live }}{{ cite book |author=Kendall, W. C. |year=1935 |title=The fishes of New England: the salmon family. Part 2 - the salmons |publisher=Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History: monographs on the natural history of New England |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fishesofnewengla02kend/page/90 90] |url=https://archive.org/details/fishesofnewengla02kend |access-date=2014-10-08 }} The Salmon Creek tributary of the Housatonic River may have been named for this salmonid, which can reach up to {{convert|30|lb|kg}}.

File:GE Pittsfield MA-Housatonic R Halfmile Cleanup Site-Cell B.jpg

From circa 1932 until 1977, the river received PCB pollution discharges from the General Electric (GE) plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic as a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. EPA and GE began a cleanup of the area in 1999.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Boston, MA. [http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html GE/Housatonic River Site in New England: Site History and Description."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121339/http://www.epa.gov/NE/ge/sitehistory.html |date=2011-05-19 }} 2009-11-12. Most of the PCBs used in the United States during this period were made by Monsanto.{{cite web |title=Understanding PCB Risks at the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site |date=27 May 2015 |url=http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/understanding-pcb-risks-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site#WhatArePCBs |publisher=EPA |access-date=25 September 2015 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926080453/http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/understanding-pcb-risks-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site#WhatArePCBs |url-status=live }} Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, made by Monsanto, was a primary contaminant of the pollution in the Housatonic River.{{cite web |last1=Gay |first1=Frederick |title=Distribution of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Housatonic River and Adjacent Aquifer, Massachusetts |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/2266/report.pdf |publisher=USGS |access-date=25 September 2015 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926102742/http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/2266/report.pdf |url-status=live }} Although the water quality has improved in recent decades, and some remediation has taken place,{{Cite web|url=http://www.sevenson.com/index.php/project-summaries/housatonic-river-pcb-soils-and-sediment-remediation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924100700/http://www.sevenson.com/index.php/project-summaries/housatonic-river-pcb-soils-and-sediment-remediation/ |title=Housatonic River PCB Soils and Sediment Remediation|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}EPA. [http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/1andhalfmile.html Housatonic River 1½ Mile - Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129131508/http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/1andhalfmile.html |date=2012-11-29 }} the river continues to be contaminated by PCBs.deFur, Peter L. (2004). [http://www.epa.gov/boston/ge/thesite/restofriver/reports/200671.pdf "Housatonic River Ecological Risk Assessment."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309051920/http://www.epa.gov/boston/ge/thesite/restofriver/reports/200671.pdf |date=2008-03-09 }} Environmental Stewardship Concepts, Richmond, VA. Presentation at EPA Public Peer Review Meeting, 2004-01-13

Between 2005 and 2018 GE completed remediation and restoration of the 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city, and continues to conduct inspection, monitoring and maintenance activities.{{cite web |title=GE Plant Area of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site |url=https://www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/ge-plant-area-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site |date=2021-07-12 |publisher=EPA}} Additional remediation is planned for the downstream polluted areas of the river. The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found in Woods Pond in Lenox, Massachusetts, just south of Pittsfield, where they have been measured up to 110 mg/kg in the sediment. About 50% of all the PCBs currently in the river are estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds of PCBs. Former filled oxbows are also polluted.{{cite web |title=Former Filled Oxbows of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site |date=25 June 2015 |url=http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/former-filled-oxbows-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site |publisher=EPA |access-date=1 October 2015 |archive-date=2 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002021016/http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/former-filled-oxbows-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site |url-status=live }}

Birds, such as ducks, and fish that live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and can present health risks if consumed.{{cite web|title=Rest of River of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site|date=25 June 2015|url=http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/rest-river-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-date=26 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926092345/http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/rest-river-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Understanding PCB Risks at the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site|date=27 May 2015|url=http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/understanding-pcb-risks-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site|publisher=EPA|access-date=27 October 2015|archive-date=26 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926080453/http://www2.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/understanding-pcb-risks-ge-pittsfieldhousatonic-river-site|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=General State-wide Advice for Eating Recreationally Caught Fish and Waterfowl In Massachusetts|url=http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/environmental/investigations/housatonic-river-report-2011.pdf|website=www.mass.gov|publisher=MDPH|access-date=28 October 2015|archive-date=16 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916005301/http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/environmental/investigations/housatonic-river-report-2011.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=If I Catch It, Can I Eat It? A Guide to Eating Fish Safely - 2015 Connecticut Fish Consumption Advisory Site |url=http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/environmental_health/eoha/pdf/2015_fish_flyer_english.pdf |publisher=Connecticut Department of Public Health |access-date=28 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907221916/https://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/environmental_health/eoha/pdf/2015_fish_flyer_english.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2015}}

;"Rest of River" settlement agreement

Negotiations regarding how to clean up the contaminated areas south of Pittsfield had continued for many years since the initial Superfund site designations, involving GE, EPA, local governments, citizen groups and other stakeholders. In February 2020 EPA announced a settlement agreement involving GE, EPA and most of the concerned parties, to remove contaminated sediment from the river. Highly contaminated soil would be removed and shipped to federally approved facilities outside the state, while less-contaminated soil would be placed in a new specially designed landfill in Berkshire County.{{cite news |last=Parnass |first=Larry |title=PCB cleanup plan reached for rest of Housatonic River |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/berkshires-housatonic-river-rest-of-river-pcb-settlement-reached,596861 |date=2020-02-10 |work=The Berkshire Eagle |location=Pittsfield, MA |access-date=2020-04-03 |archive-date=2020-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318184357/https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/berkshires-housatonic-river-rest-of-river-pcb-settlement-reached,596861 |url-status=live}}{{cite report |title=EPA, Stakeholders Reach Landmark Settlement Agreement to Enhance and Accelerate Cleanup of the Housatonic River; Fact Sheet |url=https://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/01/643539 |date=February 2020 |publisher=EPA |id=SEMS Doc ID 643539 |access-date=2020-04-03 |archive-date=2021-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028223941/https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/643539.pdf |url-status=live }}

Following a public comment period, EPA issued a permit in December 2020 for the final cleanup phase. In 2021 two of the citizen groups that were parties to the settlement filed an appeal of the permit, criticizing the design of the planned landfill. In February 2022 the US Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) denied the permit appeal.{{cite news |last=Parnass |first=Larry |title=U.S. environmental court backs PCB cleanup plan for the Housatonic River, rejecting claim of EPA error and allowing Lee landfill |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/environmental-court-ruling-appeal-epa-housatonic-river-pcbs/article_c354991a-892b-11ec-8d9f-6b34dc9a0671.html |date=2022-02-08 |work=The Berkshire Eagle}} Following the EAB ruling, EPA has continued to design the new PCB disposal facility and has conducted public meetings in 2022.{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Nancy Eve |title=Citizens concerned about public health, environmental risks at proposed PCB dump in Lee |url=https://www.capeandislands.org/2022-12-15/citizens-concerned-about-public-health-environmental-risks-at-proposed-pcb-dump-in-lee |date=2022-12-15 |work=New England Public Media}} Two citizen groups appealed the EAB decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and in July 2023 the court rejected the plaintiffs' challenge.{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Nancy Eve |title=Federal appeals court rejects environmentalists' challenge to EPA's Housatonic cleanup plan |url=https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2023-07-28/federal-appeals-court-rejects-environmentalists-challenge-to-epas-housatonic-cleanup-plan |date=2023-07-28 |work=New England Public Media}}

The Connecticut segment of the river is polluted with mercury levels far beyond background levels, starting at the confluence with the Still River. The hat manufacturing industry of Danbury, Connecticut, which operated from the 19th to the mid-20th century, was the source of most of this mercury pollution, from mercury nitrate used in the felting process. In the 21st century, the mercury remains in the river sediment and flows downstream, especially during storm events.{{cite thesis |last1=Lerman-Sinkoff |first1=Sarah Tziporah |date=April 2014 |title=Transport and Fate of Historic Mercury Pollution from Danbury, CT through the Still and Housatonic Rivers |type=BA thesis |publisher=Wesleyan University |url=https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/object/ir-639 |access-date=2023-04-06 |doi=10.14418/wes01.1.1052|doi-access=free }}{{better source needed|date=April 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Varekamp |first1=Johan |title='Mad Hatters' Long Gone, But The Mercury Lingers On |date=2002-06-25 |url=http://unisci.com/stories/20022/0625026.htm |website=UniSci |publisher=UniScience News Net, Inc. |location=Cape Coral, FL |access-date=2015-10-01 |archive-date=2016-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101123655/http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0625026.htm |url-status=live }} High mercury levels are measured in the sediment at the outflow delta of the Housatonic River into Long Island Sound.{{cite journal |last1=Verekamp |first1=J.C. |last2=Buchholtz ten Brink |first2=M.R. |last3=Mecray |first3=E.L. |last4=Kreulen |first4=B. |title=Mercury in Long Island Sound Sediments |journal=Journal of Coastal Research |date=Summer 2000 |volume=16 |issue=3 |page=613 |jstor=4300074}}

File:Boardwalk Marina on Housatonic R Stratford jeh.jpg

The Housatonic River watershed drains {{convert|1948|sqmi|km2}} in western Connecticut and Massachusetts and eastern New York. The Housatonic rises from four sources in far western Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains near the city of Pittsfield. It flows southward through western Massachusetts through the Berkshires and into western Connecticut, and empties into the Long Island Sound between the cities of Stratford and Milford, forming a border between Connecticut's Fairfield County and New Haven County, respectively. It includes 83 towns.

For most of its extent the watershed is just to the west of the watershed of the lower Connecticut River, and to the east of the

Hudson River Basin. Near the coast, smaller watersheds border it: on the east the Quinnipiac River and Wepawaug River watersheds, and on the west the Norwalk River, Saugatuck River, and Pequonnock River watersheds.

The river's total fall is {{convert|1430|ft}} ({{convert|959|ft}} from the confluence of its east and west branches) to Long Island Sound. Its major tributaries in Massachusetts are (heading downstream) the Williams River (in Great Barrington), Green River and Konkapot River (in Ashley Falls). Crossing south into Connecticut, the Housatonic's major tributaries are the Blackberry River (in Canaan), Salmon Creek (below Falls Village), Ten Mile River (above Gaylordsville but originating in New York), Still River (south of New Milford), Shepaug River (at the Bridgewater and Southbury border), Pomperaug River (at Southbury), and Naugatuck River (in Derby). The Naugatuck River is the Housatonic's largest tributary with a contributing watershed of {{convert|312|sqmi|km2}}.

Candlewood Lake is a pumped storage facility which is replenished when water is pumped into it from the Housatonic during times of non-peak electrical consumption; the water is then allowed to flow back into the river during peak times to generate electricity.

File:Housatonic_River,_Kent_CT.jpg