Bill to Block Radioactive Waste Dumping Stalls in Assembly
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Legislation that would prohibit the dumping of radioactive waste from decommissioning nuclear plants into the Hudson River has hit a snag in the State Assembly.
On Friday, the Senate unanimously passed the bill that was introduced by Pete Harckham (D/South Salem), but Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg (D/Ossining), who sponsored the bill, said last-minute objections from Minority Leader Will Barclay and his conference stopped it in its tracks, at least temporarily.
“The Speaker has indicated to me that we will be coming back in the very near future to take up this bill and others in a special session. This bill is a priority for me and my colleagues and we will get it over the finish line,” Levenberg stated. “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. We have worked so hard, for so long, to make the Hudson River a premier destination to live, work, and play, and people are concerned about returning to the bad old days of treating our rivers like industrial dumping grounds. We cannot ignore their concerns.”
Food & Water Watch Senior New York Organizer Santosh Nandabalan urged Assembly leaders to join their Senate colleagues in supporting the legislation.
“After decades of action to clean up the Hudson River, Holtec’s dangerous plan threatens to take us backwards. Toxic radioactive waste has no place in our water,” Nandabalan stated. “We commend the Senate on their swift response to this looming crisis. Speaker Heastie’s leadership now stands between thousands of New Yorkers and safe, clean water. The clock is ticking — Speaker Heastie must call a special session and pass the Save the Hudson bill (A7208/S6893) immediately, so Governor Hochul can sign this critical legislation before it’s too late.”
Last week, dozens of environmental activists traveled to Albany with petitions containing more than 400,000 signatures opposing Holtec International’s plans to release 45,000 gallons of radioactive wastewater from Indian Point’s spent fuel rods as early as September.
Holtec officials have maintained all nuclear power plants discharge treated effluent containing low levels of radiological effluent, which is regulated by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency.
The company has also stressed the practice of dumping the wastewater into the river from Indian Point has been occurring for the last 60 years and is the best alternative for handling the discharge at the 240-acre site in Buchanan.
On April 13, Holtec, which is decommissioning the shuttered plants in the Village of Buchanan, notified the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board that it would not be going forward with the planned discharge in May as it had indicated earlier following public outcry.
Correction: In the originally posted article, it was incorrectly reported that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie delayed the bill. It was, in fact, Minority Leader Will Barclay. The Examiner regrets the error.
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