Senator echoes Riverkeeper calls for increased Indian Point security
This week, Sen. Chuck Schumer highlighted “dangerous gaps in Indian Point’s maritime security” that Riverkeeper has long criticized, and called for a “top-to-bottom review.” In a letter to Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Schumer requested the development of a plan to provide a 24-hour security zone in the Hudson River within 300 yards of the nuclear power plant’s pier.
“Recent media reports have documented what I consider dangerous gaps in Indian Point’s maritime security, identifying that there is no requirement for a 24-hour on-duty patrol boat to be stationed near Indian Point,” he wrote. “As a result, there are moments when only a line of warning buoys stand between boaters and the Indian Point facility. I believe that the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security as well as other relevant stakeholders such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, New York State, local law enforcement, and the Department of Energy, must lead a top down review of maritime security around the plant to determine what improvements can be made to maritime security to better protect the plant from waterborne threats and identify and immediately close any gaps in the plant’s security.”
“Over 20 million people live within 50 miles of Indian point, approximately 30 miles north of New York City, and a waterborne attack is something that we must go to great lengths to prevent,” Schumer wrote to the Coast Guard, echoing Riverkeeper’s longstanding concerns. “We can never be too safe when it comes to protecting our nuclear power plant, especially those so close to major population centers and waterways.”
Riverkeeper thanks Sen. Schumer for taking action to improve security at Indian Point, and calls on the plant owner’s Entergy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard, and state and local law enforcement agencies to heed his call.