PLYMOUTH — A plan to release one million gallons of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s systems into Cape Cod Bay, announced last fall by Holtec Decommissioning International, the company that now owns the plant, has had officials and residents scrambling to prevent it.
Most recently, a handful of bills were filed in the state legislature by regional delegates to prohibit the release, but none won the necessary support by the July 31 end of the state’s legislative session.
Many had pinned their hopes on a last-minute amendment to a comprehensive economic development bill that would have delayed any release of radioactive water for at least two years while a committee studied its potential effects. The bill and amendment are stalled indefinitely in a conference committee.
The economic development bill failed to move forward after Gov. Charlie Baker announced a revenue surplus for the year was expected to trigger a 1986 law that would return up to $3 billion to taxpayers. Under the law, known as 62F, if state revenue growth outstrips growth in wages and salaries in any fiscal year, the excess money must go back to taxpayers.
Anticipating that 62F will be triggered, lawmakers kept the economic development bill in conference committee out of concern there would not be funds sufficient to cover its provisions.
The state Senate and House are now in informal session until January. While they may take votes, those are generally on uncontroversial matters. They are voice votes and must be unanimous for a proposal to pass.
The amendment to establish a study committee prior to any release of water by Holtec had been filed by Sen. Susan Moran and passed in the Senate version of the economic development bill. It was not in the House version. To be included in the final version, Moran’s amendment would have to be among the provisions agreed to by the conference committee.
Moran remains hopeful.
“While the amendment in the economic development bill is still being debated by the conference committee, the door is still open, and the legislature knows that greater transparency and public input is a priority for communities managing the impact of nuclear decommissioning,” said Moran in a written statement on Monday.
There has been some talk that the House and Senate may call an emergency formal session to handle the economic development bill.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, a member of the House leadership, is doubtful that such a session will happen. “Senate and House leaders are telegraphing they’re not interested in doing that,” said the Provincetown Democrat in a phone interview Monday.
“What we can and will do is file the amendment in January as a separate piece of legislation and fast-track it,” said Peake. She called that “a worst-case scenario” since Holtec may well have released the water into the bay by then.
“As a state legislator, my continued frustration is that the nuclear industry is regulated at the federal level,” Peake said. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authority over radioactive contaminants, while the Environmental Protection Agency has authority over other contaminants.
“We’ll just continue to work with the attorney general and do what we can to keep putting up roadblocks,” said Peake. She said she would also look to federal legislators, including Rep. William Keating and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, to “work their magic.”
Holtec’s President Kris Singh committed during a Congressional hearing in June to allowing an independent laboratory to test the water from the spent fuel pool and other systems prior to deciding on its release. Markey’s office has not yet indicated who will do the testing.
Meanwhile, activist groups are appealing to the state attorney general to step in. “Attorney General Maura Healey is the only person with the authority to stop the dumping at this juncture,” according to a recent public statement by Save Our Bay, a coalition of citizens, environmentalists, and the seafood, tourism, and hospitality industries.
Diane Turco, director of the Cape Downwinders, which is part of the Save Our Bay coalition, said in an interview that “it’s time for Maura Healey to get off the bench and into the game. The attorney general must act and enforce the Massachusetts laws and stop Holtec from dumping.”
Healey’s spokesperson Chloe Gotsis recently said the release of the water would violate the company’s state permits. While adding that the attorney general “is prepared to take action to prevent violations,” Gotsis did not say what the action would be.
Moran has urged local authorities to raise their voices. “Holtec needs to be constantly reminded that they are not the ones who get to decide the future of Cape Cod Bay,” she said in her statement. “Our communities get to decide.”
The Duxbury Select Board recently wrote to Healey asking her to take preemptive action, such as seeking an injunction against Holtec. Turco said plans are in the works to ask select boards across the Cape to write similar letters.
A source with knowledge of Healey’s views told the Independent that she is prepared to take action to prevent violations of the law but declined to be quoted so as not to divulge the attorney general’s legal strategy.
Local leaders and environmental groups have urged Holtec to ship the water to a licensed disposal facility, but company President Kris Singh said in a letter to Sen. Markey in June that the option to ship had been discarded because it “runs counter to our basic tenets of environmental justice.”
Holtec’s decision may also have been based on the estimated cost of $20 million.
Remaining options include evaporating the water, which Holtec said would require large amounts of heat and possible use of diesel generators, and storage onsite, which Singh warned could delay the completion of decommissioning and site release.
Holtec has said it is currently studying all the options and will announce how it plans to handle the radioactive wastewater this fall.
