Plymouth Residents Sound Off On Nuclear Wastewater Proposal

PLYMOUTH, MA — Dozens of people spoke at a hearing Thursday at Plymouth Town Hall on a decommissioned power station's request to discharge radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay, Boston 25 reported. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a tentative denial of a request for a permit modification from Holtec International last month.

Many speakers at the meeting voiced their support for the state's decision to deny Holtec's request, according to Boston 25. Among their concerns are health and safety issues as well as potential effects on the local oyster industry.

But some at the meeting, including those from Eco-Nuclear Solutions, noted that the power station has been discharging water into the bay for years, Boston 25 reported. They consider the current opposition to wastewater disposal an overreaction and argue that nuclear power is key in the fight against climate change.

Holtec said in a statement that it was "disappointed" by the state's denial and the proposed discharge would be "well within safe limits."

The company is exploring options such as evaporating the contaminated water, WCAI NPR reported.

However, some local activist groups oppose this plan, saying that it would release harmful contaminants such as tritium into the air. One of those groups is Cape Downwinder, which wrote on its website: "HOLTEC doesn't care about worker or public safety, only the bottom line by decommissioning Pilgrim in the most cheap, fast, and unsafe way possible."

Read more at Boston 25 and WCAI NPR.

The plant was shut down in 2019. Holtec has said it needs to find a way to dispose of more than 1 million gallons of potentially radioactive water.

See related: Holtec Still Deciding How To Dispose Of Plymouth Nuclear Waste