A New York state legislator on Friday brought forward a bill that, if made law, would prevent the company decommissioning a shuttered nuclear plant there from discharging radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.
The measure introduced by State Sen. Peter Harckham (D), would amend state law to make it illegal “to throw, drain, run or otherwise discharge any radiological agent into the waters of the state.”
First-time violators would be fined $25,000 per day, the bill said, a figure that would increase to $50,000 and then $150,000 for subsequent offenses.
The bill on Monday awaited a vote in the state Senate’s environmental conservation committee, which Harckham chairs. The committee’s next meeting has yet to be scheduled.
Harckham’s district, which includes parts of Westchester County, N.Y., is home to the shuttered Indian Point Energy Center, currently under decommissioning by nuclear services company Holtec International.
The company told the state-stewarded Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board during a Feb. 2 meeting that it was planning to discharge around one million gallons of irradiated wastewater from the Buchanan, N.Y., plant into the Hudson River.
A similar issue is playing out in Massachusetts, where Holtec is navigating community opposition to its plan to release wastewater from the Plymouth, Mass., Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The company is currently pursuing an amendment to the plant’s permits with the Environmental Protection Agency that would allow such a discharge.
Camden, N.J.-based Holtec has defended wastewater discharges, arguing in January 2022 that such activities are normal for decommissioning nuclear power plants and that facilities such as Pilgrim release wastewater throughout their operating lifetimes.
