Gov. Maura Healey says the company that owns the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station should stop fighting the state on the disposal of radioactive water from the plant’s nuclear reactor system.
The company, Holtec, is facing a Monday deadline to appeal a decision last month by the state Department of Environmental Protection to deny a permit for the discharge of water into Cape Cod Bay.
During a visit to Cape Cod on Wednesday, Healey said Holtec should stop trying to appeal.
“Holtec cannot dump in the sea,” she said. “It just can't. And it needs to move on, stop with the appeals, and move on to actually figuring out a way to dispose of the wastewater.”
Holtec is seeking to modify an existing water discharge permit, granted while the plant was still operating. The reactor was shut down in 2019.
A modified permit could allow the company to discharge nearly 1 million gallons of water as part of the decommissioning of the plant. But the Department of Environmental Protection contends the discharge would violate a state law, the Ocean Sanctuaries Act.
The department denied the permit modification on that basis.
Holtec’s appeal will go to a dispute resolution office within the department. That’s the last stop before the matter could end up in court.
Healey has gone on record in the past saying she opposes the release of water from Pilgrim into the bay.
“My position continues to be firm,” she said Wednesday.
