It’s Clear the Economics of a Clean Hudson River Would Benefit the Region
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Vince Scafaria
Nestled along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Hudson River sits a decommissioned nuclear power facility called Indian Point. Site remediation is being conducted by Holtec, drawing upon the $2.4 billion fund set aside by ratepayers over 60 years. Whatever they don’t spend, they get to keep.
If you read the press coverage in 2021 detailing terms of the deal, you would be unlikely to grasp their plan on how to maximize those profits. It’s now out in the open.
Holtec has lobbied to dump one million gallons of radioactive waste into the river. Driving by the Ossining office of Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, co-sponsor of the Save the Hudson bill, on June 15 you would have seen union members picketing against the bill. Of course, their signs didn’t say, “Support dumping radiation.” They read “Stop A7208,” draped in pro-union banners.
Holtec mobilized these workers by threatening to lay them off if it couldn’t dump the waste. Do Democrats really have to choose between being pro-jobs and pro-environment? Of course not. This is a false choice set up cynically by Holtec, causing neighbors to picket against neighbors – as if anyone would prefer job losses or a radioactive waterway. Don’t forget, seven municipalities source their drinking water from the Hudson.
Holtec’s argument doesn’t hold water. Obviously, cleaning up waste in a way that increases Holtec’s labor costs (as opposed to dumping it on the cheap), would involve paying more workers more money. If Holtec is allowed to dump the waste, they will. If they choose to vindictively send a message by firing workers, they will. But there is no reason to believe stopping the dumping should have the natural impact of cutting jobs; quite the opposite is true. The only change would be to Holtec’s expected profits.
Companies take on projects based on their risk-adjusted return. That includes the risk of changes to the political climate – especially when critical information wasn’t initially well-known to the public. Holtec surely counted on the risk that activists would learn about and oppose their measure. It is a feature of the free market that they were allowed to make that bet, and it’s a feature of the free market if they miscalculated.
When a Minnesota power plant released 400,000 gallons of tritium water in March, NBC News covered the story nationally. Holtec’s proposed dumping is 2.5 times the size, intentional and entirely avoidable.
Though I haven’t seen an economic impact study for the Hudson Valley region, the value of cleaner water has been measured for the Delaware River.
“Additional economic valuation of this water quality improvement shows direct use benefits in the Delaware River to range from $371 million to $1.1 billion per year,” stated G.J. Kauffman, director of the University of Delaware’s Water Resources Center in 2018.
These economic sectors benefiting from improved water quality include recreational boating ($46 million to $334 million); recreational fishing ($129 million to $202 million); agriculture (up to $188 million); non-use value ($76 million to $115 million); viewing/boating/fishing ($55 million to $68 million); bird watching ($15 million to $33 million); property value ($13 million to $27 million); water supply ($12 million to $24 million); commercial fishing (up to $17 million); and navigation ($7 million to $16 million).
It’s worth highlighting that those dollar values are per year, and that they apply to a smaller GDP metropolitan statistical area compared to Westchester and the New York City area. We must not lose sight of the economic big picture.
Economic and environmental concerns aren’t the only factors Gov. Hochul needs to consider. The Biden administration supports an “all-of-the-above” energy policy. That includes clean nuclear energy infrastructure. Triggering community backlash by casually dumping nuclear waste into fresh water is a terrible way to build support for nuclear energy policy.
The Save the Hudson bill was passed unanimously last week by the Senate and by a vote of about two-thirds in the Assembly. It is now up to Gov. Hochul whether to sign it into law. State government has an opportunity to score a win across the board for the environment, jobs and clean energy by keeping one million gallons of radioactive waste out of the river. Gov. Hochul should not allow a cynical move by Holtec to poison the well.
As one final note, I do hope the law actually stops Holtec. I remain personally concerned that per-day dumping fines might not suffice. This should be more than a nuclear waste dumping expense; it should be disallowed entirely.
Chartered Financial Analyst Vince Scafaria is a Hudson Valley resident and small business owner. He earned an economics degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as director of operations for investment banking at FactSet.
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