A New Opportunity to Close Indian Point—Take Action Today!
Photo courtesy Giles Ashford
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Photo courtesy Giles Ashford
We have a new chance to shutter Indian Point—by showing that this destructive, dangerous nuclear power plant is inconsistent with state policies designed to make the best use of the Hudson River and its shoreline. The public has until October 30 to comment on this crucial issue—don’t miss your chance!
This “coastal consistent certification” is required under Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, and involves a determination about whether relicensing the Indian Point nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years will be consistent with the 44 enforceable policies outlined in NYS’s Coastal Management Plan, or CMP. Entergy claims its continued operation is consistent with coastal zone policies, and now it’s up to the state to weigh the facts and approve or deny Entergy’s application.
Without this state approval, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will not be able to grant a license renewal to Entergy for Indian Point. This Federal requirement thus provides the State of New York with a powerful tool to prevent the relicensing of Indian Point.
Riverkeeper is actively fighting both to deny Entergy the state water permit it needs to operate, and to to deny the plant the 20-year license renewal it is seeking from the NRC. The coastal consistency review represents a third way we might succeed in closing Indian Point. And because the NRC rarely allows for meaningful public comment on its decisions, this is a rare opportunity the public to express its concerns about Indian Point—and argue for its closure.
Indian Point is environmentally destructive and runs afoul of various coastal policies, so New York State should object to Entergy’s proposed consistency certification. In particular, the State must consider and address:
- The 1.2 billion fish and other aquatic organisms killed annually by Indian Point’s once-through-cooling water intake system, and the devastating impacts on the aquatic biota of nearby State and Federally designated Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat in Haverstraw Bay;
- the effect of rampant and ongoing radioactive leaks from Indian Point that indisputably release to the Hudson River and will continue to do so for decades; and,
- the safety risks of storing thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste for decades if not centuries in overly crowded leaking spent fuel pools and temporary dry cask storage structures.
Make sure to let New York State know that Entergy should not get a coastal consistency certification! Submit your comments by October 30, 2013 online now, or send them to:
New York State Department of State, Division of Coastal Resources
ATTN: Consistency Review Unit
One Commerce Plaza, Suite 1010
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12231
(518) 474-6000
(518) 473-2464 (Fax)
email: [email protected]