Markey and Keating Grill NRC, Holtec
Plymouth Congressional Hearing Examines Nuclear Decommissioning; Pilgrim Nuclear Station as Exhibit A
[ Dear Readers — What follows is adapted from a Facebook post written this afternoon immediately after the hearing; it is a preliminary account of today's Congressional hearing in Plymouth about nuclear decommissioning, the NRC, and Holtec and their nuclear dumping plan; I ended up meeting Sen. Markey and Rep. Keating on behalf of the Massachusetts Seafood Collaborative, a commercial fishing organization whom I represented as a sort of emissary through unforeseen circumstances.]
What a day!
I joined some friends in front of the 1820 Courthouse in Plymouth for a standout ahead of a Congressional hearing, held by Sen. Ed Markey and with Rep. Bill Keating about the decommissioning of nuclear plants in the United States, with Plymouth and Holtec as Exhibit A (and B and C etc).
Through unforeseen circumstances and at the very last minute, I ended up representing my friend Mark DeCristoforo of the Mass. Seafood Collaborative, a commercial fishing organization -- I am not a commercial fisherman, though I enjoy fishing immensely and wrote my doctoral dissertation in great part on colonial fish laws -- as a guest in the ornate, restored, 19th century courtroom for the Congressional hearing itself.
Thus my ticket got changed, and I got moved out of the overflow crowd in The Great Hall, to the Hearing itself, which I was not anticipating.
It was quite the production, and I think all of us concerned about this are grateful to Sen. Markey and Rep. Keating and their hard-working staff for doing this.
At any rate, it was a remarkable hearing. I've been to a lot of government hearings. This was not a typical government hearing. This was like the "going to see the premiere of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in the Coolidge Corner Theater" version of a government hearing.
[The Hearing from my seat — from Left in the foreground; Mary Lampert, of the NDCAP, from Duxbury, Rep. Kathy LaNatra (D-Kingston), Sen. Sue Moran (D-Falmouth; John Lubinski of the NRC, at the table; Rep. Bill Keating (D-Bourne) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA)]
The long and short of it is that Sen. Markey and Rep. Keating, both in their respective ways -- by turns scholarly and forensic (in the sense of argument) -- showed that the the Holtec Corporation, represented by their CEO, Kris Singh, with the apparent approbation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), view themselves as the abiding and presiding force in questions of nuclear decommissioning, rather than the people of our Towns, of our Commonwealth, and of our Republic.
Dr. Singh appeared to make significant concessions, saying he wouldn't dump without the consent of local "stakeholders," but it was with so many loopholes a truck could be driven through.
then through semantic games -- namely by redefining "uncontaminated" from its plain meaning to the opposite thereof, i.e., irradiated -- withdrew them with the other hand, in terms of refusing to dump the water.
With that said, Dr. Singh did commit to financially backstopping the decommissioning work being done at Pilgrim not just by the Limited Liability Companies Holtec, Intl., has set up as various cutout corporations, to do the actual decommissioning -- whereas Holtec has slightly more than $4 billion in assets, the LLCs themselves have only the assets of the public that have been put into a trust fund for such a purpose. There was real concern that Holtec would simply pocket that money, since there is nothing right no preventing them from doing so legally.
The NRC regulatory process was described by the MA AG's Office as essentially "illusory," the simulacrum of an actual regulatory process. The NRC currently sees its role simply to affirm and note what the various private nuclear corporations want to do, no matter the harm.
A few words must be said about Dr. Singh's testimony. I have again, gone to a lot of Government meetings. This is perhaps some of the most arrogant public conduct in a serious matter I have ever seen, certainly in someone in that kind of a leadership position.
Dr. Singh essentially was talking down to, not only the general public, that seems a given with him, but to actual United States Congressmen and US Senators. It was remarkable. He actually laughed at the line of question from Rep. Keating. It more or less confirmed all of Holtec's critics in their arguments of unaccountable corporate aggression and hubris.
It was a long and detailed hearing, and quite dramatic.
In order to recuperate and celebrate, I got French Fries, coca cola, and went to look at some herring here at Town Brook in Plymouth.
I'll have more to report as I review my notes, which I am guesstimating at about 25 handwritten pages (my hand hurts).
Strange days indeed, as John Lennon put it. More to come.
p.s. Attorney Fettus of the NRDC and Attorney Schofield of the AG’s Office gave excellent testimony, as did Sen. Susan Moran.
My take, too. Loved "going to see the premiere of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in the Coolidge Corner Theater"--haha, yes. As for Singh's extraordinary performance, he is a master manipulator. To watch him redefine "irradiated" as uncontaminated", and "stakeholder" as "the NRC, the state and anyone we deem important" was a thing of wonder. So was his body language as he rocked back and forth in the comfort of his office, barely able to suppress a smirk expressing deep contempt for all of us. It was a performance. But it doubt it fooled or reassured anyone.
Thank you so much for your reporting. Due to illness, I was unable to attend. I knew it would be a meeting worth attending. Dr Singh didn’t ‘disappoint, I see! What hubris & arrogance! What’s the next step??