The Environmental Protection Agency this week fired back at Holtec International after the company doubled down on claims that federal law allows it to discharge irradiated wastewater from a nuclear plant it is decommissioning in Massachusetts.
In a letter to Holtec dated Monday, James Chow, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) enforcement and compliance division, reiterated the agency’s position that a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the company for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station “excludes the discharge of certain wastewater,” including “wastewater from spent fuel pool water and other sources.”
Holtec, which is decommissioning the Plymouth, Mass., plant, has said that it is considering releasing water from the site’s spent fuel pool into the nearby Cape Cod Bay. EPA has already taken issue with the plan, arguing in a June letter to the company that such action would violate the facility’s NPDES permit.
Holtec must submit a request to amend the permit before it can release any wastewater, Chow said, adding that EPA “has not received an application for such coverage or an explicit confirmation that Holtec will submit one.”
Chow’s letter comes after a Nov. 28 meeting of the Pilgrim Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens’ Advisory Panel, during which Holtec compliance manager Dave Noyes again asserted that Pilgrim’s NPDES permit allows the proposed wastewater discharge.
Noyes also refused to confirm that the company would not release any spent fuel pool water before the permitting issue was resolved, and refused to say whether Holtec would provide advance notice of any discharges.
Holtec’s comments at the meeting “appear to contemplate the possibility of intentional noncompliance” with federal regulations, Chow said. “Such unauthorized discharges would be a violation of the [Clean Water] Act and could subject the Company and its agents to the full array of enforcement authority that Congress has granted to EPA.”
Holtec must provide EPA with notice “well in advance” of any discharges not permitted under Pilgrim’s NPDES permit, including spent fuel pool water, the letter said. The company is required to provide the agency with the exact date, time and source of any release and the volume of material being discharged at least 90 days prior.
“Compliance with this information request is mandatory and the requirement to provide the requested information is ongoing,” Chow said. “Failure to respond timely, fully and truthfully, or to adequately justify any failure to comply with the requirements set forth herein, constitutes a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.”
A spokesperson for Holtec did not respond to a request for comment this week.
The company’s proposal has been met with consternation on both the local and national levels. State Sen. Susan Moran (D), an ardent opponent of the planned discharges, authored an ill-fated amendment to a November state spending bill that would have blocked Holtec from releasing any wastewater from Pilgrim until 2024.
But Moran’s proposal was scrapped by Gov. Charlie Baker (R), who contended such action would step on the federal government’s toes.
In a Nov. 2 letter, U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) blasted Holtec for what they said was a “misinterpretation” of the plant’s NPDES permit.
Camden, N.J.-based Holtec has said previously it would not discharge any wastewater from Pilgrim in 2022, and that any releases would likely begin early next year. The company has defended the practice, however, saying in January that such discharges were normal for nuclear plants.
Holtec acquired the Pilgrim plant from former operator Entergy Corp. in 2018. The company has said that it could finish decommissioning the site by 2027.
