Elected officials and environmental advocates outside County Center for Save the Hudson Rally
The news last month that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection had denied a permit for Holtec to dump one million gallons of nuclear waste into Cape Cod Bay is good news for the many in Westchester who are trying to get Governor Kathy Hochul to sign a bill passed in June, which also would deny Holtec the right to dump one million gallons of toxic waste into the Hudson River.
On July 24, Holtec was denied a Massachusetts permit to discharge 1.1 million gallons of irradiated industrial wastewater rather than store it on site or transport it to an off site storage facility. “Holtec owns plants around the country, so I think Massachusetts will lead the way for Holtec to take safer actions for decommissioning. It’s excellent news not just for Massachusetts but for the entire country,” said Massachusetts State Sen. Susan Moran.
The effort to get Hochul to sign the bill before Holtec begins their planned dumping in September or October continued this week, with a rally in White Plains. Westchester State Senators Shelley Mayer and Pete Harckham, Assembly members Dana Levenberg, MaryJane Shimsky, Chris Burdick, County Legislator Ben Boykin were in attendance.
After the event, Levenberg announced that a total of 29 members of the NYS Assembly have signed a letter urging Governor Kathy Hochul to sign Assembly Bill 7208/Senate Bill 6893: “I am so grateful to my colleagues for standing with our Hudson Valley communities and urging Governor Hochul to sign the ‘Save the Hudson’ bill. By standing up for the Hudson River, we are making it clear that we will insist on the highest possible safety standards for all of New York’s waterways. We are demonstrating that private interests should think twice before assuming they can treat our rivers like dumping grounds.”
Assembly member Levenberg and Senator Harckham sponsored the legislation to Save the Hudson, which passed the Senate Unanimously and passed the Assembly by a101-44 margin. The pressure on Governor Hochul now includes a larger coaltion of elected officials.
State Senator Shelley Mayer who also attended the rally said, “Terrific crowd gathered at Westchester County Center to urge Governor Hochul to sign the Save the Hudson bill, which passed both the Senate and Assembly and which will prevent nuclear power company Holtec International from releasing radioactive waste into the Hudson River. I thank my colleagues Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg for sponsoring this important bill, as well as the activists of the Stop Holtec Coalition for fighting for our river and our communities.”
More than 400,000 New Yorkers have signed a petition urging Hochul to sign the Save Our Hudson Bill.
Now that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy’s administration has denied Holtec’s permit, many in Westchester, and almost every elected democrat in Westchester, is watching with interest what Hochul will do? Or they are asking what is Hochul waiting for?
In June, members of the Carpenters Union, apparently at the urging of Holtec, came out against the Save our Hudson bill, claiming that the halt on toxic discharge into the hudson will cost their members construction jobs at the Indian Point facility in Buchanan.
Levenberg and others have challenged that assumption, and point to the many other unions who support their legislation. “I heard repeatedly that there is plenty of work to be done at various points during the decommissioning process. If this is the case, why are workers being told that their jobs are at stake? This appears to be an attempt to enlist labor in an effort to stifle public discussion of our options,”
Others have pointed out that if Holtec decides to store the waste on site in Buchanan for 12 years, which will cut its toxicity by 50%, more construction jobs will be created to build the storage required.
“Public perception of a polluted, hazardous river will undermine our local economy in various ways, harming property values, business interests, and much more. More than 30 municipalities and thousands of my constituents have reached out to my office to oppose the plan to discharge nuclear waste into the Hudson,” said Levenberg.
If Hochul signs the bill, it is likely that Holtec will file a lawsuit against it. Levenberg said “we believe that a state has the right to restrict or permit discharge that impacts the local economy. We believe we have a leg to stand on with our legislation, and that the state is not preempted from taking this action.
Hochul has until the end of the year to “call up” a bill for her to either sign or veto.
