As previously mentioned, constant vigilance is needed to ensure lasting and durable protections, hard fought for, are respected and preserved. Someone looking to make a quick score using public resources always has their eye on that body of water or tract of land we all thought would never be exploited. Our collective job as protectors of natural resources is to remain ever vigilant to ensure that which is protected remains so.
With the foregoing in mind, APCC looks forward to participating as an intervenor in Holtec International’s appeal of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s denial of its permit to discharge industrial wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. DEP rightfully denied Holtec’s permit application as not allowed under a plain reading of the state’s Ocean Sanctuaries Act. Holtec looks at Cape Cod Bay as a cheap and easy place to dump industrial wastewater associated with the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The Ocean Sanctuaries Act prohibits such a discharge, and APCC has invested significant resources in supporting DEP’s upholding of the basic tenants of the act.
The case is being heard this week and is expected to consume four full days. While we don’t expect a decision until close to the end of the year, we will update our readers once the hearing has concluded. In the meantime, stay alert to this and other efforts to undo protections you thought were lasting and durable. Bad things happen when no one is paying attention.
