Holtec ignored Governor Healey’s admonition last week and filed an appeal of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s denial of its permit application to discharge contaminated wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. Here is the simple truth about this appeal; it enables Holtec to say that its self-imposed eight-year delay in the final clean-up of the former Pilgrim Nuclear Station site is because of permit uncertainty, but that is deceptive. Holtec’s appeal, and nothing else, is the cause of permit uncertainty about the allowed means of disposal of the wastewater. What Holtec won’t tell you is that the longer the appeal takes—and this DEP administrative appeal is just the first step before Holtec goes to state and/or federal court, the better for Holtec. Why is time Holtec’s friend? Because the longer it pursues this meritless appeal, the more time it has to induce evaporation of the contaminated water into the air while slowing spending. This allows the publicly funded trust fund from which it draws to increase in value through investment returns. The bottom line is that this appeal is good for Holtec’s bottom line.
What does the public get from this? The dirty end of the stick in the form of increased exposure to radiation released from evaporation and an eight-year longer wait for the site to be cleaned up and returned to productive uses not now possible. That’s a lousy return on the more than $1 billion in public funds invested in the Decommissioning Trust Fund Holtec uses to decommission the plant in what was supposed to be a timely manner.
Having researched the legal framework and providing the detailed analysis of the Ocean Sanctuaries Act that formed the roadmap for the denial, APCC looks at the Holtec appeal as nothing more than an abuse of process designed to buy time. The appeal is a rehash of old and debunked claims that, much like many greatest hits albums looking to squeeze more profit from a poorly aged songbook, did not need to be made. APCC will, as it has, remain vigilant to make certain that Holtec cannot discharge to Cape Cod Bay. APCC will support the DEP denial and will participate in the appeals as events dictate.
