“(CBS) WHITE PLAINS The company that owns the Indian Point nuclear power plant is laughing off a lawsuit filed by the environmental group Riverkeeper.
“Riverkeeper tries all kinds of things,” said Entergy spokesman Jim Steets.
“They often are irrelevant to what actually is going on at Indian Point.”
Riverkeeper claims Entergy violated federal law by failing to notify the
Environmental Protection Agency of a radioactive water leak discovered in
August, 2005.
The water is leaking from a pool where spent fuel rods are stored. Testing
shows the water contains small amounts of strontium-90 and tritium. Experts
assume the water is following the path of least resistance through the ground and ending up in the Hudson River.
“What we’re seeking is just follow the process,” said Riverkeeper lawyer Karl Coplan. “They’ve got to notify the EPA, get EPA involved, and then EPA
is supposed to step in and oversee the cleanup.”
Entergy called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
“We’ve provided information to the appropriate state and federal agencies,”
said Steets, the Entergy spokesman. Steets said Entergy contacted the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and was not required to notify the EPA.
A few miles downriver from the power plant, people fishing in the Hudson
knew about the leak, but didn’t seem too concerned.
Tommy Favreau of Yonkers said “I have an old friend who fishes here named
Wally. He’s 80-years old, he’s not glowing in the dark yet and he eats fish
out here every day, and the crabs.”
Jay Lieberman of Yonkers made the same point, but added: “The river should
be getting better, not worse, and I think they should look very carefully at
the problems they’re having up at the plant up there.””
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