The deadline is looming Monday for the owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to appeal last month’s decision by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection denying the company permission to discharge radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay.
Holtec International, which owns the closed power plant, confirmed to CAI on Tuesday that it plans to appeal.
The state denied the company’s application based on the Ocean Sanctuaries Act, which prohibits dumping of industrial waste into a designated Ocean Sanctuary — including Cape Cod Bay.
Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien said he was not familiar with the details of the appeal, but that it would likely address the date the Ocean Sanctuaries Act went into effect.
“That permit pre-dates the Ocean Sanctuaries Act and had been in use prior to that being established,” he said.
James Lampert, a retired lawyer who chairs the state's Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens’ Advisory Panel, said the company may argue that federal law, which allows discharge of water from nuclear plants within limits, preempts the state.
“There is probably a question as to whether Holtec … might try to get into the federal court system on the ground that preemption is a federal question,” he said. “That gets much more complicated.”
Holtec is seeking to modify its state water-discharge permit to allow the company to release water from Pilgrim’s reactor system and related areas of the plant. The company is looking for a way to dispose of the water as part of the ratepayer-funded decommissioning of the plant.
State testing last year showed the Pilgrim water contained metals, volatile organic compounds, and PFAS chemicals, along with radioactive tritium and four “principle” gamma radiation emitters: manganese-54, cobalt-60, zinc-65, and cesium-137.
The water would be treated prior to discharge, but not all of the contaminants could be removed.
The Department of Environmental Protection finalized its denial of the permit modification in July, nearly a year after issuing a draft decision.
Local advocates who oppose the discharge are calling for Holtec to ship the water to a licensed disposal facility instead.
While the debate plays out, the water is evaporating into the outdoor air.
Holtec’s appeal will go to the Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution, which the state describes as an independent office within DEP.
A presiding officer makes a recommendation to the DEP commissioner, who issues the final administrative decision. The commissioner is Bonnie Heiple, an environmental and energy lawyer.
From there, a further appeal would go to Superior Court.
