Berkshire Green Drinks: How to Protect Your Farms, Gardens, and Food from Forever Chemicals

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SHEFFIELD, Mass. — Laura Orlando, Senior Scientist at Just Zero and an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, will speak at the July Berkshire Green Drinks event on Wednesday, July 9. 
 
This free hybrid event will take place online via Zoom and in person at Big Elm Brewing's Sheffield Taproom, 65 Silver St, Sheffield, MA. 
 
The in-person social gathering will begin around 5:15 PM; the presentation and Zoom meeting will start at 6:00 PM.
 
According to a press relsase: 
 
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS or "Forever Chemicals") are a dangerous class of chemicals that seem to be everywhere. They cause tremendous harm to human health in concentrations so low that scientists and regulators have concluded there is no safe level for them in our drinking water. Laura will be talking about where they are and are not, and how to keep them off the farm, out of the garden, and away from food and water. PFAS contamination is a big, nasty problem—with some surprisingly easy solutions.
 
 
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Connecticut Man Killed in Otis Tractor-Trailer Crash

OTIS, Mass. — Thursday's collision between two tractor-trailers on Route 8 killed one of the drivers. 
 
Antonio Luis Marcucci, 32 of Waterbury, Conn., was northbound at about 9 a.m. Thursday when he apparently lost control of the truck and veered into the southbound lanes, colliding head-on with a southbound tractor trailer, according to police. 
 
According to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office, police dispatched to 1322 South Main Road found the truck with Connecticut plates in the northbound lane and a truck bearing Oklahoma plates lodged in a snowback on south side. 
 
The officer began rendering aid to the northbound driver, identified as Marcucci. He was pinned inside the cab of his truck. He was extracated and transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield by Otis EMS, where he was pronounced dead.
 
The driver of the Oklahoma tractor trailer in the southbound lane did not receive serious injuries.
 
Early investigation, including dash camera footage captured by one of the tractor trailers, shows the Oklahoma tractor trailer was traveling in the southbound lane and the Connecticut tractor trailer was traveling in the northbound lane, according to the DA's Office. The Connecticut tractor trailer lost control veering off the other side of the road ultimately ending on the southbound lane. Shortly after the two tractor trailers collided in a head on collision.
 
The investigation remains ongoing.
 
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