In a ruling this week concerning groundwater contamination from a quarrying operation, a judge for the Vermont Environmental Court found that state regulators must take the contamination into account even though the contamination has not yet gone beyond the quarry property. Any contamination of groundwater is considered a violation of public trust. Regulators could order the operation to be shut down until the situation is corrected.
The same might said of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vt., which has been leaking tritiated water for more than a year, apparently from several different surces. Entergy Corp., owner of the 39-year-old plant, say there is no indication that the contamination has gone outside the plant’s perimeter, and poses n threat to the public.
Opponents say enough is enough. They want the trouble-plagued shut down now, or at the very least a year from now when its operating license expires. The owners are both seeking a 20-year extension of the license and trying to sell the plant.
Vermont’s environmental secretary lands somewhere squarely in the middle. Deb Markowitz told the Brattleboro Reformer that the Environmental Court’s decision does not set a precedent, and that the company is appealing the matter to the state Supreme Court. She said her department is studying the matter.
My question is, what’s it going to take?
There are really two levels of argument. One can continue to discuss the pros and cons of nuclear energy as a power source. That’s fine.
But when it comes to Vermont Yankee, with its long history of deceit, incompetence, and accidents, it’s really time to shut it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment