FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     Contact: Clinton Press Office

September 21, 2005                                                         212-688-9559

  CLINTON CALLS FOR HEARINGS INTO LEAK AT INDIAN POINT

 Requests meeting with NRC Chairman to seek answers as to how the leak occurred and why local officials not notified

  Washington , DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on her Senate colleagues to conduct an immediate oversight hearing into the recent leak of radioactive water at Indian Point. In a letter to Senator Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Clinton said she wanted a hearing to determine why the leak occurred and why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) did not disclose the information sooner.

 The Senator also today requested a meeting with NRC Chairman Nils Diaz to seek an explanation into the situation and the serious failure on the NRC’s part to communicate with local officials following the leak.

“People deserve answers about what happened, whether they are safe, and why they weren’t told about the problem sooner,” Senator Clinton said. “That is why I am calling on my Senate colleagues to conduct hearings into this incident and why I am requesting a meeting with NRC Chairman Diaz.”