Readers Write- Thirsty for Answers Before It's too Late

Rockland Daily readers have been kept in the know for months now about the plans by  Holtec to dump one million gallons of radioactive waste into the Hudson River in August. 

Rockland Daily wrote about how all the Counties surrounding the power plants were against this outrageous and unconscionable act by the company that took over Indian Point's nuclear facility once it was shut down. And yet, just today, I learned that Holtec has decided to ignore pending New York State legislation to ban the discharging of toxic waste in the Hudson River. Seems they could care less about a petition with over 400,000 signatures. Somehow, they are able to completely ignore those who share the river - Rockland County and Westchester along with multiple municipalities' resolutions objecting to the plan.

In short, none of their neighbors want their pollution poisoning our waterway, yet somehow they have made their own ill-advised decision. They claim to know best and still consider it the "best option," as was reported by Rockland Daily in February. The only part of their plan that has changed is that now they will be hastily dumping all 1 million gallons of toxic waste into the Hudson River in early May instead of waiting for August. 

Obviously, the sooner they act, the less likely it will be that anything will be able to stop them. But that's not what they're saying. Their self-righteous claim is that somehow or other if they are forced to keep the water at the plant, they will also be forced to lay people off. (How does that even make sense?) And how can that even be true? And even if it's true that a few people will lose their jobs, is that a justification for poisoning the water for millions of people, wildlife, fish, flora, and fauna, both today and for future generations, in an act that, once done, can never be undone? 

In today's day and age, there has to be some clean, safe method of disposing of this nightmare. And if not, wait for someone to create it. Who is it hurting by having it sitting around as it has been for the past many decades? It's not like they could have missed a million gallons of radioactive water when they agreed to take over the power plant and oversee its SAFE decommissioning. 

But the biggest question of all is, can this actually happen? Can some company that cares not a whit for humanity have been made the guardians of a decommissioned nuclear power plant that comes with millions of gallons of toxic waste? And can such a guardian have decided all on their own that it is too much of an inconvenience to continue to be in charge of such a responsibility and so they can just dump the inconvenient toxic waste willy nilly into the waterway, turning a source of life for so many into a cancerous poison that none in our area will be able to escape? 

Once upon a time, we believed the EPA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would step up to the plate and keep us safe. Once upon a time, we even trusted that our State and Federal Elected officials were there to represent us. All I can say now, as a lone voice thirsting for answers before it's too late, is - if not now - when? 

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