Says alternatives can be found
The Philipstown Town Board on April 13 unanimously approved a resolution that said the town “strongly opposes” the planned discharge of radioactive wastewater by Holtec from the Indian Point nuclear power plant into the Hudson River as part of the decommissioning process.
Several other Mid-Hudson municipalities also have objected to the move, including Cold Spring and Westchester County.
The Philipstown resolution called on the state Legislature to adopt a proposed law, drafted by state Sen. Pete Harckham, who represents part of eastern Putnam, and Assembly Member Dana Levenberg, whose district includes Philipstown, to outlaw radioactive emissions into state waterways.
Board members acknowledged the difficulty of finding an easy or immediate solution to disposing of the radioactive wastewater.
“I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s not dumping it into the river,” Van Tassel said. “Even in my lifetime, you can see the difference in the Hudson. It used to be so dirty. It’s beautiful now. Why would we go backward?”
After decades of efforts to restore the river, “there’s no way we should start dumping into it again,” Board Member Jason Angell said.
“We can find alternatives,” said Town Board Member Judy Farrell.
