To the Editor:

Re “New York Reveals Deal to Close a Nuclear Plant” (news article, Jan. 10):

A year ago, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York ordered an investigation in response to concerns from local residents sparked by the revelation that tritium radioactive contamination had increased 65,000 percent since the last time radiation emission levels at Indian Point had been measured.

According to news reports at that time, fresh samples from groundwater monitoring wells showed an 80 percent higher concentration of tritium in just four days. The situation was so dire that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was called in to investigate.

Governor Cuomo recently announced that Indian Point would be closed in four years. Thousands of people, including pregnant women and children, are incarcerated in facilities within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point and its contaminated groundwater.

Since 2009 they have expressed concerns that their water was discolored and tasted bad. They believed that their unexplained medical conditions were tied to the contaminated water.

Unlike their neighbors, they cannot opt to drink bottled water or get tested to determine the level of their exposure. For them, four years is much too long to wait.

SOFFIYAH ELIJAH

Executive Director

Alliance of Families for Justice

Brooklyn”

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