WHAT'S BLOWING IN THE WIND?

On February 21, Mass Department of Environmental Protection sent an order to Holtec with a 21-day deadline to "calculate and submit the potential to emit air pollution emissions regulated by MassDEP resulting from the evaporation of the reactor process water" occurring at Pilgrim. Under MA air control regulation 310 CMR 7.02, the state has established limitations or restrictions on effluent releases. Whatever the nonsense reasons Holtec spouts for heaters, Holtec continues to evaporate untreated, unfiltered chemical, and with no real-time monitoring, the radioactive wastewater is contaminating our communities. [Click on letter for full order document.]

MassDEP must go one step further and halt Holtec's evaporation now. The Ocean Sanctuaries Act, the same law MassDEP cites for denying the dumping permit, includes "any unwanted, disguarded, or environmentally harmful solid, liquid, or gaseous materials resulting from commercial, municipal, domestic, or industrial activities." Pilgrim Watch recently sent a letter to Governor Maura Healty requesting that she use her authority to enforce state laws, citing multiple state laws and regulations that would prohibit the forced evaporation of wastewater. The Ocean Sancutaries Act, Clean Water Act, Surface Water Protection regulations, Endangered Species Act and the DEP antidegradation regulations protecting our airways are explained in the letter here>>>

The state is NOT pre-empted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of the AGO-Holtec settlement agreement that Holtec must abide by state law and cannot use pre-emption.

COME TO THE NEXT NDCAP MEETING ON MONDAY, MARCH 25 PLYMOUTH TOWN HALL at 6:30. While we wait for the final DEP denial for dumping, Holtec announced at a previous NDCAP meeting that they plan to challenge any denial ruling in court. Holtec acts above the law, not just here in Massachusetts but in Michigan, New Mexico, and New Jersery. Holtec has informed NY that they plan to challenge the no dumping law there, too. Read more here>>>

In The News

Provincetown Independent Christine Legere:

State Says Holtec Must Report on Chemicals in Vaporized Wastewater

"Holtec International, the company that now owns the shuttered nuclear power station here, has so far not received permission to pursue its initial plan to discharge 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay.

But while it awaits decisions by state and federal regulators, the company has gotten rid of some 200,000 gallons of that wastewater laced with radioactive and nonradioactive contaminants by placing submerged heaters in the reactor cavity and evaporating it." Read more here>>>

State Demands Data on Airborne Pollution from Holtec

State asks Holtec to identify pollutants in evaporation

The MA Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Holtec for mishandling asbestos on 3 different occaisons since 2021. Once again, Holtec contaminates our communities without concern for the workers and public.

Provincetown Independent: State sues Holtec for mishandling asbestos at Pilgrim

Harvard Public Health Professor hopes to bring science to the Holtec debate

Please sign and share our petition calling on the state to prevent increased exposure to carcinogens by halting Holtec's Pilgrim wastewater evaporation!

Sign HERE

and share

Holtec is Infamous for Lying

“Clearly, Holtec lies habitually for fraudulent financial gain,” said Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, a leading watchdog group that is suing to stop Holtec's New Mexico plan, as well as efforts to collect billions in subsidies to restart the retired Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan."

Beyond Nuclear Read Read more here>>>

"Holtec International, the Camden firm behind controversial nuclear power projects in New Jersey and four other states, has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty to avoid criminal prosecution connected to a state tax break scheme.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Tuesday that Holtec has been stripped of $1 million awarded by the state in 2018 under the Angel Investor Tax Break Program. Holtec will also submit to independent monitoring by the state for three years regarding any application for further state benefits, Platkin said......"

Holtec fined $5 million for NJ scandal By Jeff Pillets, NJ Spotlight

HOLTEC SUBSTANDARD WASTE STORAGE EXPOSED AT SAN ONOFRE...OUR FUTURE? YES!

Join Dr. Brita Lundberg of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility for a prescreening discussion at the Cape Cinema on Wednesday, March 13 as Cape Downwinders sponsors “SOS – THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME”. Filmed over 12 years, this documentary dramatically chronicles how Southern California residents came together to force the shutdown of an aging nuclear power plant only to be confronted by an alarming reality: tons of nuclear waste left near a popular beach, described as “the center of the surfing universe,” only 100 feet from the rising sea, that — with radioactivity lasting millions of years—menaces present and future generations.

The film portrays San Onofre as a microcosm of this national problem – the mismanagement of lethal radioactive waste lasting millennia. This is a syndrome shared by all 55 nuclear reactor sites across the United States, including here at the Holtec-Pilgrim site in Plymouth. SOS spotlights the essential role citizens must play to ensure public safety is the top priority and not contractors’ short term profits. Told largely through the eyes of five main characters, we witness how they mobilize their communities, become experts on the issues, and tactically wiser in the face of adversity. SOS – THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME is a critical warning that America’s 55 nuclear power plants, each with their own tons of intensely radioactive waste, stranded on-site in unsafe temporary containment, are putting their local communities and national security at grave risk.

Tickets here>>> WATCH TRAILER HERE>>>

Legislation UPDATE

Both Pilgrim bills below are currently on extension awaiting full committee vote. Please contact the committee chairs and urge a favorable vote out of committee for a full floor vote this year.

Filed by Senator O'Connor, S.1448, an Act relative to monitoring dry casks of spent nuclear fuel would establish real-time monitors on each dry cask housed outside at the Holtec site. Holtec is now only responsible to inspect one can every 5 years and currently environmental monitors are placed out in the community, not on the cite of the source-the cans. The locations are far from the cans and too late to protect the public if a radiological release occured. Senator Cyr is chair of Public Health.

Full bill here>>>

Call the Joint Committee on Public Health

Filed by Senator Cyr for Cape Downwinders, S. 1498, an Act to improve public health and safety standards in communities around aging nuclear power plants and high-level nuclear waste dump sites would amend the current state emergency planning law to include nuclear waste dump sites such as the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) at Holtec-Pilgrim. Currently, the emergency plans are for All-Hazards events that, according to the Masssachusetts Emergency Management Agency, would not be effective for a radiological accident. Holtec is now only responsible to the fence of the ISFSI. Take a ride down Rocky Hill Road and see for yourself the lack of security and safety.

Full bill here>>>

Call the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security

EPA letter to Holtec

AGO/Holtec Settlement Agreement

Dr. Ian Fairlie on Tritium

Plymouth Board of Health

Holtec CEO Singh letter to Senator Markey

The Bomb Next Door by Dr. Thomas Bass/The American Scholar

Boston Globe-In the shadow of the Pilgrim nuclear plant, EPA warning reverberates

Provincetown Independent-Legislation to stop radioactive water release fails

Provincetown Independent-Shape of Bay means poisons would linger

APCC Legal letter to the state

Save Our Bay MA

Cape Downwinders

Pilgrim Watch

MA Seafood Collaborative

Herring Pond Wampanoag

Sierra Club of Massachusetts

MA Lobstermen's Association

United American Indians of New England

Realtor Association of Southeastern Massachusetts

Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility

UUMASS Action

Indivisible Outer Cape

Six Pond Association, Plymouth

League of Women Voters/Plymouth Area

League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area

Environment Massachusetts

Community Action Works

Clean Water Action

Sustainable Plymouth