In case you were still wondering if Holtec, the limited liability corporation in charge of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, can be trusted, read this letter from EPA. The letter speaks for itself, but in summary, EPA is definitively telling Holtec that the EPA permit that Holtec holds means what it says in plain English. Holtec is prohibited from discharging radioactive water that contains conventional pollutants regulated under the federal Clean Water Act into Cape Cod Bay. The EPA permit is crystal clear about this prohibition despite Holtec’s outrageous efforts to both reinterpret and modify the permit language to suit its own objective.
The EPA’s refutation of Holtec’s blatant attempt to alter the public record is a hopeful sign that Holtec’s effort to use Cape Cod Bay as a dumping ground will be resisted. It should also serve as due notice to us all that we must watch Holtec closely and take nothing for granted even if you think you know what the meaning of the word “is” is.
