Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Indian Point Nuclear Discharge In Hudson

BUCHANAN, NY — A bill to prohibit the release of radioactive water into the Hudson River passed the Legislature in Albany and is headed to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for her signature.

The bill — S6893 and A7208 — said that “it shall be unlawful to discharge any radiological substance into the Hudson River in connection with the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant,” and it provides for enforcement by the attorney general.

Senator Pete Harckham, D-South Salem, said a broad coalition of bipartisan legislators supported the bill, as did New York’s federal delegation members, more than 30 municipalities and the state’s top environmental groups.

He said that protecting the economic vitality of the Hudson River communities is a must.

“We cannot allow any actions that will cause home and business owners to suffer serious economic distress to their investments,” Harckham said. “And the best way to protect the economic interests along the river is to keep this important natural resource as free from possible contaminants as possible.”

Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, D-Ossining, said that thousands of her constituents reached out to her office to oppose the discharge of nuclear waste into the Hudson River.

“We have worked so hard for so long to make the Hudson River a premier destination to live, work and play, and people are concerned about returning to the bad old days of treating our rivers like industrial dumping grounds,” she said.

“We cannot ignore their concerns,” Levenberg said.

Patrick O’Brien, director of government affairs and communications for Holtec International, said in a statement to Patch that the company overseeing Indian Point’s decommissioning is disappointed in the bill’s passage “as the scientific facts show that discharge to the river is the safest option for dealing with the processed and treated water.”

He said that was supported by the Decommissioning Oversight Board’s independent third-party expert and years of environmental monitoring and reporting.

“Radiological discharge is the sole purview of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and we hope the governor’s office reviews, concurs and vetoes the legislation based on the assessment that radiological discharge is federally preempted,” O’Brien said.

State Senator Rob Rolison, R-Poughkeepsie, is the former mayor of the city of Poughkeepsie.

He called the bipartisan passage of the legislation a victory for more than 100,000 people who get drinking water from the river, including the city of Poughkeepsie.

“When Hudson Valley residents turn their faucet,” Rolison said, “they want to know that what is coming out of the spout is clean, safe — and will remain so in the future.”