Says feds should have final say on discharge
The company decommissioning the Indian Point nuclear power plant south of the Highlands sued New York State in federal court on Thursday (April 18), asking a judge to overturn a law that bans the discharge of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.
Citing the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, its filing claims the 2023 law is a “blatant infringement on the federal government’s exclusive right to regulate the discharge of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants.”
“The failure of New York State to respect federal law and follow the facts and science of the issue left us no other means for remedy,” it said.
The state Assembly and Senate approved the law after Holtec announced last year that it planned to discharge more than 1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater from spent fuel pools. Holtec noted that radioactive water had been routinely discharged into the river during the 50 years the plant operated.
Although the water would be filtered, that process would not remove tritium, a radioactive isotope. According to the lawsuit, “Holtec’s plan to treat and dispose of the tritiated wastewater in the Hudson River from Indian Point fully satisfies NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] regulations and is well within federal limits on radiological discharges.”
That failed to mollify many residents, elected officials and environmentalists, who argued that, even if the effects were negligible, the perception of a “radioactive river” could harm the local economy and property values.
In the spring of 2023, Assembly Member Dana Levenberg and state Sen. Pete Harckham, Democrats whose districts include Indian Point, introduced the legislation to prohibit discharges. It passed both houses with bipartisan support.
Holtec’s lawsuit notes that the initial version of the bill cited “the protection of drinking water and health and safety,” while the final version only mentioned economic concerns.
Victoria Leung, a staff attorney for the environmental organization Riverkeeper, said that while the federal law preempts state regulation in the field of nuclear health and safety, “it does allow for states to regulate its own interests, such as economic interests.”
“So we don’t think it comes in conflict with federal law,” she said. “We maintain that this law is an appropriate exercise of state power as it seeks to regulate the state of New York state’s economic interest, not nuclear safety.”
In a statement on Thursday (April 18), Harckham said: “Holtec’s litigation does not change these facts: The New York State Senate unanimously approved legislation to stop the dumping of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson, and the governor signed it into law because most residents want to protect this vital waterway, as well as the economic activity generated by the river.”
The next meeting of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board is scheduled for Thursday (April 25). In a statement, the board said that it did not plan to discuss the lawsuit but would continue presentations on alternative methods of wastewater removal.
I strongly support the ban on discharge of millions of gallons of radioactive materials into the Hudson. In my opinion, Holtec is suing to do this to save itself money at the expense of health and well-being of residents and wildlife in our area. The less they spend on decommissioning, the more they keep from the decommissioning fund. They also wanted to discharge radioactive materials into Cape Cod, a major recreational area, which suggests that their profit motive far exceeds their concern for safety and health.