nuclear-news

Legal action against owners of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station

Activists plan to sue Mass. nuclear plant owner Boston.com AP /  October 9, 2012 PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts activists have announced plans to
sue the owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station for what they say is the continuous pollution of Cape Cod Bay over the last 16 years.

The three activists, represented by Ecolaw, notified the Environmental
Protection Agency on Friday of their intent to sue the plant’s owner,
New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. They say the Plymouth plant damaged
the local ecology by discharging chemical pollution and water heated
far above allowed standards.

The activists say Pilgrim has more than 33,000 violations of the Clean
Water Act since 1996 and charge that the company could be liable for
$831 million in penalties, at $25,000 per violation.

In a separate letter Friday, Ecolaw also told the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection it intends to sue the agency
for allegedly allowing Entergy to damage the environment.

Pine duBois, one of the three residents who signed the notification to
the EPA, said regulators have a duty to enforce anti-pollution laws.
‘‘Our ocean is not Entergy’s dump,’’ she said in a news release.
‘‘Cape Cod Bay belongs to all of us.’’…..Pilgrim was relicensed
earlier this year after 6 1/2 years of review by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. The relicensing means the commission has
certified that the plant, built in 1972, can operate safely for
another 20 years.

NRC officials have noted its staff devoted approximately 14,600 hours
to the review, which was the longest of any renewal application in the
agency’s history.

Ecolaw said it notified state and federal agencies of its intent to
sue under laws that allow citizens to act if the government fails to
enforce the law.

The group told the EPA it’s able to sue Entergy if the agency doesn’t
act within 60 days of the notification. And it says under
Massachusetts law it can sue the Department of Environmental
Protection if the state does not act with 21 days of its Friday
notification to that agency.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2012/10/09/activists-plan-sue-mass-nuclear-plant-owner/7tLBgxb2f5tzQqf9gx9YWK/story.html

October 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA