Concerns raised by residents of Buchanan and communities surrounding the Hudson River Valley have been heard. The plans for the early discharge of radioactive waste water from Indian Point have been temporarily postponed.
Holtec International, the company in charge of decommissioning the former nuclear power plant at Indian Point Energy Centre, made the announcement on April 13th. It is now their position that their planned release of one million gallons of radioactive waste water into the Hudson River will be paused.
Holtec sent a letter directly to the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board on this change. This is in spite of Holtec’s insistence that they have full authorization to proceed with the dumping as planned on May 1st. Evidently, the delay is intended to give the company, state officials, and federal regulators time to communicate plans for a series of waste water discharges from the decommissioned nuclear reactors on site.
Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien stated the company’s position on their pause.
“While Holtec notes that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ultimate authority over radiological liquid releases at Indian Point and at other sites across the country, we hope this voluntary pause will be viewed positively as an indication of our willingness to work together with the State and with the surrounding community.”
A Community Effort
Community members in the Hudson River Valley are applauding Holtec’s decision and rallying support for further action. When Holtec first announced the dumping in February, it was with plans for an August discharge. At the time, residents, environmental groups, and regulators took action to prevent the essential waterway from being polluted by potentially contaminated, cancer-causing water.
A petition calling for Holtec to cancel their plans has received 400,000 signatures to date. Officials in Westchester and Rockland counties have also been involved. Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg recently presented legislation at the State level.
These and other local officials shared their enthusiasm of Holtec’s decision. But, they urged for continued action to consider the environmental impact of radioactive dumping the Hudson River.
“Without clear information about what’s in the water, and a recent federal violation within the Indian Point treatment system, and a lack of transparency about its plans, Holtec has left our communities in the dark about its proposed release of over one million gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson,” stated U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Tom Congdon, chairman of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board, was cautiously optimistic about Holtec’s decision. Congdon has said that it is “an important step toward rebuilding trust in the community.”
