“TARRYTOWN – Two environmental groups began a lawsuit today against Indian Point, alleging that the nuclear plant violated federal law by not
notifying the Environmental Protection Agency when a radioactive water leak was found in August.
Riverkeeper and the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic say Indian Point’s failure to involve the EPA within 24 hours of the leak has kept the public out of the follow-up investigation into the cause of leaking strontium 90 and tritium, and any possible cleanup.
“We’re not talking about somebody’s septic system,” said Karl Coplan, the director of the Pace organization. “We’re talking about nuclear waste.”
The actual lawsuit can’t be filed for 60 days, a clock that began with the filing of legal papers today and the groups say they’d drop the case if Entergy notifies the EPA officially so the federal agency can look into the leak.
Indian Point officials said they notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as state and local officials as soon as possible.
“We made all the appropriate and required notifications,” said Jim Steets, an Indian Point spokesman. “And as far as the public goes, we have shared as much information as possible, as quickly as we could.”
The source of the leak of strontium and tritium has not yet been determined, and Entergy drilled 23 monitoring wells on the property to determine the extent of the leak. The NRC and state health and environmental officials have taken split samples from those wells.”
