The relative calm and enjoyment of the beginning of the holiday season ended abruptly for me Monday night. The cause was not all the Cyber Monday emails, it was the jaw dropping revelations by Holtec about the ongoing decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. APCC has opposed Holtec’s intended release of contaminated wastewater into Cape Cod Bay as a plain and obvious violation of the Ocean Sanctuaries Act (OSA). The state agrees with us and has issued a tentative decision denying Holtec the permission to discharge. We await the finalization of the denial by DEP.
At the meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (NDCAP), representatives of Holtec provided an update that reveals their clear intentions to skirt the law and dispose of their contaminated wastewater as they prefer without consideration of the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth. Here is what we learned:
1. Holtec has added four more years of delay to final closure and site release. For those of you keeping score at home, that means eight years have been added to the schedule this year alone from 2027 to 2035. The stated reason for the extended timeline is ongoing uncertainty about release of wastewater.
2. Heaters have been reintroduced to the core reactor building for “worker comfort.”
3. The 1.1 million gallons of wastewater is now 900,000 gallons due to uncontrolled and untreated evaporation into the air.
4. Holtec will appeal a final OSA denial when and if issued.
5. DEP notified Holtec that if evaporation becomes the primary means of water disposal, then Holtec must notify DEP for a determination of applicability of Air Quality permit requirements. Holtec has made no such notification to DEP.
From my seat on the NDCAP panel, it is pretty obvious that Holtec will continue to evaporate contaminated wastewater into the air we breathe while appealing the expected OSA denial. Their appeal seems that it will be rooted in a tortured and highly selective reading of the OSA that would make a circus contortionist proud, but it is one that buys them time. The appeal maintains the veneer of ocean outfall being the primary and preferred means of disposal, while they just evaporate the water without repercussion. The eight year time extension for closure gives them enough time to evaporate the remaining 900,000 gallons of wastewater down to essentially nothing. Having then disposed of the wastewater, I suspect they withdraw the application for ocean outfall and make the appeal moot and congratulate themselves for playing the regulators and the rest of us for fools.
Of course, I could be wrong and Holtec could clear this all up with a statement that they will accept the OSA permit denial, comply with the relevant air quality permit requirements associated with evaporation, and have an open discussion about the best way to handle the remaining contaminated wastewater. If they say any of this, we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, don’t hold your breath unless you don’t want to breathe the contaminants they are releasing into our air.
