Arguments for NDCAP: Dumping Is Illegal, Unjust, and Must Not Occur
My intended public comment for this evening's meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel
Dear Readers: below is a copy of the statement I intend to make at the public comment period at tonight’s meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, at Plymouth Town Hall, starting at 6:30 pm.
Good Evening, Mr. Chairman, and to the Hon. Members of the Panel, and thank you for affording me this opportunity to speak tonight.
My name is Dr. Benjamin Cronin. I grew up and reside in Duxbury, and wrote my doctoral dissertation on the preservation of the commons in the Towns of early Plymouth County. I wish to make the following arguments: that the proposed dumping of radioactive wastewater into our bays is not legal; that it is contrary to the democratic will of the several Towns of our region; that it is not just; and that it therefore ought not to occur.
Let’s take each of these in turn.
I am not a lawyer, but Attorney and NDCAP Member James Lampert is, and as he has argued before this body on more than one occasion, the proposed dumping into our Bays violates a number of statutes, both Federal and State.
( The View from the Gurnet: Plymouth and Cape Cod Bays, Manomet Hill, and, if one looks closely, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station; photo credit — J. Benjamin Cronin ).
The current permit for Pilgrim, issued under the U.S. Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C., secs 1251 seq.), does not permit the discharge of this water into the bay. The EPA was very clear about this in its June 17th letter to Holtec Decommissioning International President Kelly Trice:
“The 2020 Permit’s meaning is clear on its face and that meaning is expressly corroborated by the Response to Comments: discharges of pollutants in water stored in the spent fuel pool, dryer/separator pit, torus, or reactor cavity are not authorized by the current NPDES permit," wrote Kenneth Moraff, Director of the Water Division of the EPA.
Moving from Federal to Massachusetts statute, we should recall that Holtec, in the June, 2020, Settlement Agreement, agreed to “comply with all applicable environmental and human-health based standards and regulations of the Commonwealth[.]” (Settlement Agreement III, 10 (l) ) Those include, among others, the Massachusetts Ocean Sanctuaries Act (M.G.L. c. 132 Secs 12-16K), which prohibits, at 15(4) “the dumping or discharge of commercial, municipal, domestic or industrial wastes” into Cape Cod, Duxbury, Kingston, and Plymouth Bays.
Likewise, the General Laws apply criminal sanctions for dumping in inland and coastal waters at M.G.L. c. 270 §16.
By Holtec’s own representations, it can remove at most 95% of pollutants in the water in question. That means 5% are left, rendering it illegal to discharge that water.
In addition, according to Dr. James Conca’s presentation in September — a presentation underwritten, we should note, by Holtec — tritium cannot be filtered from water because of its chemical properties. It would therefore be contrary to the above statutes to discharge that water, if pollutants cannot be filtered from it.
Beyond the statutes that dumping would violate, such an action would lack democratic legitimacy. Every Town on Cape Cod, on Martha’s Vineyard, as well as Duxbury and Scituate, have either passed Town Meeting Articles or voted in favor of ballot questions opposing dumping. These are all direct democracies, I think it is important to note. In addition, the Select Board of Plymouth has been adamant in its opposition, and the Select Boards of Duxbury and Scituate have sent letters to the Attorney General expressing the seriousness with which they view this matter.
This, then, is a question of self-government. If the democratically ratified will of the People opposes dumping, and the law forbids dumping, it stands to reason that dumping must not occur.
Fortunately, both Gov-Elect Maura Healey, who will take office in a few weeks, and the Attorney General’s Office, have been very clear that they are prepared to take action to stop dumping. On June 13, in Dennis, Healey said “I’ll be damn sure, in whatever capacity I serve, that we’re not going to have radioactive waste dumped down here.”
On Sept. 26th, the Attorney General’s Office stated: “Our office will do everything possible to hold Holtec accountable and ensure public health and safety throughout the decommissioning process. We [are] prepared to take action to halt any violations of state and federal water discharge permits.”
It is not only a question of self-government. It is also a question of justice. Surely, if Justice is to have any meaning, especially here in Plymouth, then it must include listening, and indeed, I would suggest, giving a place of historical and moral precedence, to the legitimate rights and wishes of the Herring Pond Wampanoag in this matter, who have been adamant in their opposition to this proposed dumping.
I imagine there are members of this panel who will disagree with all that I have just said. That is entirely fair – reasonable people of good will can disagree on this matter. Even people with largely similar views find themselves at odds over this issue. But I believe that the compelling legal arguments that Attorney Lampert has presented tonight must be considered carefully and impartially. I believe that, when so examined, they compel the following conclusions:
That dumping is illegal, that it must not occur, and that the Attorney General’s Office and the Governor-Elect must do their utmost to ensure that it does not occur.
Thank you.
J. Benjamin Cronin, Ph.D
Duxbury