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Local groups meet with governor's staff asking to halt evaporation of radioactive water

Cape Cod and South Shore residents who oppose the evaporation of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station made a trip to Boston Monday to meet with staff from Gov. Maura Healey’s office. From left: Diane Turco of Cape Downwinders; Jim Lampert of Pilgrim Watch and chair of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel; Peter Dalton of the Duxbury Shellfish Advisory Committee and Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association; Jo-Anne Wilson-Keenan of Dennis; Angela Sanfilippo of the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership (in front); Art Desloges of the Sierra Club; Christine Silva of South Shore Realtors; Benjamin Cronin of Duxbury; Mary Lampert of Pilgrim Watch; Dr. Brita Lundberg of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Janet Domenitz / contributed
Cape Cod and South Shore residents who oppose the evaporation of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station made a trip to Boston Monday to meet with staff from Gov. Maura Healey’s office. From left: Diane Turco of Cape Downwinders; Jim Lampert of Pilgrim Watch and chair of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel; Peter Dalton of the Duxbury Shellfish Advisory Committee and Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association; Jo-Anne Wilson-Keenan of Dennis; Angela Sanfilippo of the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership (in front); Art Desloges of the Sierra Club; Christine Silva of South Shore Realtors; Benjamin Cronin of Duxbury; Mary Lampert of Pilgrim Watch; Dr. Brita Lundberg of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Cape Cod and South Shore residents who oppose the evaporation of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station made a trip to Boston on Monday to meet with staff from Gov. Maura Healey’s office.

The local contingent included members of environmental groups, along with associations representing fishermen, charter captains, and the real estate industry.

They asked the Healey administration to stop the ongoing evaporation of reactor water from the nuclear plant.

Diane Turco, director of the group Cape Downwinders, attended the meeting. She says she called for immediate action to halt the evaporation.

“There are laws on the books already that prohibit airborne pollution,” she said. “And we're asking our governor to immediately enforce those laws… She's been very strong about no dumping in the bay. And we see this as a parallel assault on our communities.”

Turco said officials at the meeting included two deputy chiefs of staff and former Provincetown state representative Sarah Peake, who is now a senior advisor to the governor.

Christine Silva joined the meeting on behalf of South Shore Realtors. She said homeowners near the plant are worried their homes will lose value.

“I’m receiving calls from residents, especially around the plant,” Silva said. “They’re very distressed about the evaporation and how it's affecting their values and stigmatizing their property.”

Silva said that older homeowners particularly have a lot at stake. “It's really distressing, especially for our elderly that have built their homes and have lived in them for their whole lives and all their equity is there.”

Healey’s office made the group no promises.

A spokesperson for the governor says the administration is monitoring the decommissioning of Pilgrim and any potential effects on the environment and human health.

The water evaporating from Pilgrim is filtered, but filtration does remove all contaminants.

The owner of the nuclear plant, Holtec International, says that the contaminants remaining in the water are well below federal limits.

Separately, the Healey administration denied Holtec a permit to release the water into Cape Cod Bay, and the company has appealed.

Jennette Barnes is a reporter and producer. Named a Master Reporter by the New England Society of News Editors, she brings more than 20 years of news experience to CAI.