Green Gangsters Rip Off While Enriching Themselves ? (Sounds like a “Hillary’s America Movie”)
Gangsters has been a common theme in this election cycle. Cruz mentioned, Movie Creator used to describe a candidate (Hillary’s America), and media used to question the ethics of another candidate, but applied to alternative energy seems interesting. I do not normally link to this site, but for this article I will.
Mary Kay Barton
Silver Lake, NY – Retired Health Educator and Small Business Owner
Wind energy subsidies are financing green gangster projects intended to enrich the 0.1% at the expense of ratepayers and taxpayers. A recent Joe Mahoney article, “NY looks to the wind to replace its fossil fuel diet,” was full of half-truths and misinformation. There is nothing “free,” “clean” or “green” about industrial wind. Quite the contrary: the true costs of industrial wind development are astronomical. Yet, the wishful thinking of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, “green” ideologues, and “renewable” energy hustlers and subsidy seekers who benefit from this massive taxpayer and ratepayer rip-off has been repeated by countless “journalists” without question for years now. (Link to the Article)
Chart 1 – Cost per Energy Output
Chart Makes me think that running a car on electricity or natural gas (LNG) may be advisable.
Chart 2- Cost
Clearly shows that on a cost basis – onshore wind and offshore wind becoming more viable. Solar still very expensive.
Personal Note:
Please note – I did see Hillary’s America. I did enjoy the movie. Learned a lot about the history of the United States and the two party system. I would recommend seeing the movie.
Nationwide Program – Neighborhood Environmental Report Your Home Health Status
Nationwide Program – The Keystone Clean Water Team is in pre-launch for a new USA program to help homeowners. The program helps you to identify the existing and historic environmental hazards in your community. We are working with a national environmental database search company to offer a report to help you understand your home’s or your future homes environmental health status within a community. We are doing this by taking a snapshot of the current and historic environmental concerns and hazards in the community and a review of select criminal activity. This program has been lauched – order a Neighboorhood Hazard Reports.
The program, Neighborhood Environmental Report™, offers a search of over 1,400 databases and millions of records of potential land and groundwater contamination within 1 mile radius of the entered address. The report includes a search for concerns that might be dangerous to a homeowner’s family or investment such as nearby leaking underground oil tanks, leaky underground fuel tanks (LUSTs), leaky above ground tanks (LASTs), CDC Health Assessment Database, landfills, hazardous waste sites, DOD facilities, gas and radiological sources, National Wetland Mapping, Flooding mapping data, drug houses, and clandestine drug labs.
Healthy Communities = Healthy Kids and Families
Some of the most toxic and/or costly hazards exists outside of your home. These contaminants can enter your home through direct human or animal contract or vapor intrusion into your home through the air, soil, or groundwater. These hazards pose a threat to you and your family’s health and the value of your property. Every report includes detailed information about what has been searched and identified as well as contact information for all governmental and private organizations cited in the databases.
The benefits of this report:
1. Help existing homeowners understand the hazards in their communities.
2. Aid future homeowners quickly learn about the historic hazards and concerns to conduct prior water quality, soils, or environmental testing and get the proper inspections.
3. Aid real estate professionals, investors, and appraisers evaluate the value of a home or residential property.
4. If you are selling your home, what a great way to introduce your home and surrounding community to any potential buyers, and as a home buyer, the Neighborhood Environmental Report helps provide peace of mind for you and your family.
5. For environmental groups, this is a great way to educate and inform your community about existing environmental hazards, develop local targeted sub-watershed monitoring programs, and educate children about their communities. In some cases a larger search area is needed.
6. Home inspectors, environmental laboratories, and other may find the reports useful, but in many cases some additional review or interpretation will be needed to select the appropriate testing parameters, inspections, and monitoring.
(Example Report Dallas Pennsylvania)
We ran this report for a small business owner that was looking to purchase a residential property in Shavertown, PA. The property was going to be purchased for cash. We completed the search and search identified a specific potential problem with a past but active leak at a gasoline station. This lead the buyer to ask for more information. When the right questions were asked, it was determined that there may be some environmental hazards that could impact the value of the property. In addition, the preliminary search suggested that the property could be located in a floodplain. The quote from the buyer – “The preliminary information and educational materials allowed me to better understand my risk and allow me to find a new property in a timely manner and save over $ 200,000.00” (GW, Shavertown, PA, 2015).
During the period from 2010 to 2011 – the following are the states with the most “Meth Lab” busts: Missouri, Tennessee , Indiana , Kentucky, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
We are in pre-launch on this service. During pre-launch we are offering to complete compile this report for a fee of only $ 55.00. After pre-launch and website design, we think the final cost will be $ 75 and up. Neighboorhood Hazard Reports
2. Contact Mr. Brian Oram at the Keystone Clean Water Team (KCWT) at cleanwater@carbonwaters.org and provide the mailing address for the property, your contact information, email address, and phone number. We can provide this service for the USA. For some areas, we may need more information.
Terms and Conditions
1. Reports do not meet the terms and conditions of an environmental audit for real estate translations.
2. Reports can not be resold and the copyright will be maintained by the Keystone Clean Water Team.
3. Any analyses, estimates, ratings or risk codes provided in this Report are provided for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to provide, nor should they be interpreted as providing any facts regarding, or prediction or forecast of, any environmental risk for any property. Only a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment performed by an environmental professional can provide information regarding the environmental risk for any property. This Report is not a replacement for a home inspection. This Report does not provide information pertaining to the interior of the target property such as, but not limited to: mold, asbestos, lead, radon or other issues. Additionally, the information provided in this Report is not to be construed as legal advice.
4. This report contains certain information described herein pertaining solely to the exterior of the target property, which information was obtained from a variety of public and other sources reasonably available to the database search company. The company. does not produce, maintain or verify the information contained in these sources; and assumes, without independent investigation, that the information in such sources is accurate and complete.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. KCWT’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests, posting articles on social media, or assisting with a local event !
For more information, please go to KCWT’s About Page or contact us. Follow us on Twitter
Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization. Through our program we can recycle cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras. If your interested, please contact us. Our new PSAs.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!
Get Your Private Well Water Tested Help Protect Groundwater Quality
For 2015, the Keystone Clean Water Team is making sure we inform all visitors about two unique programs.
Program 1 – Informational Water Testing
The Keystone Clean Water Team has partnered with a National Water Testing Laboratory and offering drinking water testing for private well owners. A proceeds is donated to the Keystone Clean Water Team. In addition, the Keystone Clean Water Team has agreed to provide a review of the results, send out a copy of our educational booklet on drinking water quality, and become a supporter of the organization for all individuals that have the testing completed and submit a copy of the testing to us to review . To order the sampling kit and have it mailed to your home – Visit Our Customized Water Test Kit Portal. After you get your results, please email a copy of the results will your full mailing address to cleanwater@carbonwaters.org.
Program 2 – Citizens Groundwater and Surface Water Database for Pennsylvania
To help track baseline quality and water quality change in Pennsylvania. The Keystone Clean Water Team is helping with compiling data for the Citizens Groundwater and Surface Water Database. This database started in 2009 in Columbia and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and has been expanded to cover Pennsylvania. This database will contain only certified pre-drilling and post-drilling certified water quality testing form individual private well owners. To participate in this program, Please Visit this Webportal. For your participation in the database, you will have a confidential report prepared by a licensed professional geologist and will obtain a copy of our education booklet on drinking water.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us. Follow us on Twitter
Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization. Through our program we can recycle cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras. If your interested, please contact us.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!
Environmental Monitoring Credibility and Social License to Monitor
Improving Reliability of Baseline Monitoring Using In-Situ.
“You need proven methods and reliable equipment to meet regulations and gain a “social license” to conduct hydraulic fracturing. Partner with a company that’s been working with mining professionals since 1976. Originally providing instrumentation for in-situ uranium mining, In-Situ ® Inc. understands groundwater —- from aquifer testing to groundwater sampling. ” (In-Situ, 2014)
1. Avoid Repeat Sampling Events
Establish baselines for regulatory compliance or background studies by implementing a defensible groundwater sampling program. The smarTROLL TM Low-Flow Sampling System simplifies routine monitoring of water quality changes in groundwater near hydraulic fracturing sites both pre-drill and post-completion.
Increase field productivity by using the smarTROLL Multiparameter Handheld and the smallest volume flow-through cell on the market. The smarTROLL MP Handheld measures up to 14 parameters and wirelessly transmits data to your iOS ® device. The iSitu ® App:
* Guides you through sampling setup, calibrations, and data collection
* Stores details of purge conditions including flow rate and field parameter stabilization to demonstrate representativeness of samples
* Logs data to your smartphone —- export to Excel
* Generates digital calibration and sample reports —- no more transcription errors
* Associates photos and GPS coordinates with sites
Watch the smarTROLL low-flow sampling tutorial and the smarTROLL MP Handheld system or watch a video.
2. Measure Hydrologic Properties, Economically
Need to determine depth to water, hydraulic gradient, hydraulic conductivity, or potentiometric surface? In-Situ Inc.’s Rugged Water Level Tapes and Rugged TROLL Data Loggers perform reliably under tough field conditions.
3. Use Tools Provided by the Marcellus Shale Coalition TM
The Marcellus Shale Coalition published recommended practices for work at oil and gas sites. Download the guide on Pre-Drill Water Supply Surveys for information on establishing a baseline for groundwater conditions prior to oil and gas drilling activities. The guide provides details for the initial survey, water sampling, sample analyses, parameters, and reporting and also includes a site visit form and a summary of pre-drill maximum contaminant levels.
4. Call In-Situ Rentals
Need equipment for short-term projects? In-Situ Rentals delivers factory-maintained and calibrated equipment. Our knowledgeable team offers free consultations to ensure that you receive the right equipment for your project.
Contact us today for a free quotation. Or call 1-800-4IN-SITU (1-800-446-7488).
* To receive the 10% discount on Rugged Water Level Tapes, you must order online at In-Situ Inc.’s e-store, please mention you save this information at the Keystone Clean Water Team Blog -May 31, 2014. Domestic shipments only. Promo Code: tape2014
Get Training – Professionals – Learn about Baseline Water Quality Issues and Water Quality Problem in Pennsylvania and more about how to work with Private Well Owners – Contact Mr. Brian Oram, Professional geologist. Learn about baseline groundwater quality in Pennsylvania.
More:
Professional Education and Training
Career Training and Renewable Energy
Information on Groundwater Well Water Quality (Iron, Arsenic, Manganese, and More)
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners. We look for people that can forward solid articles, help coordinate local education efforts, and more. Become part of the Keystone Clean Water Team!.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Waiting on Official Name change to the Keystone Clean Water Team by the IRS. Unsolicited donations are appreciated.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).
Alternative and Renewable Energy Energy Options for Pennsylvania
The Academy is a S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math) magnet school in the Hazleton Area School District. The academy offers a variety of learning opportunities in the sciences, including onsite college courses at reduced tuition rates, project-based learning, individual and group work, and many creative ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge. Mr. Brian Oram of the Keystone Clean Water Team and the owner of B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. conducted an education outreach effort as part of Earth Day.
During the presentation on April 22, 2014, Mr. Oram focused on:
The Importance of Conservation and Energy Efficiency
Need for the Use of Renewable Energy Where it Works Best
Need for State-wide Use Of Biomass and Groundsource Heating and Cooling
Regional/ National Wind and Solar Projects
Role of Nuclear Energy and
The Role of Fossil Fuels (Coal, Natural Gas, and Oil).
We learned that if we just recycle cellphones we could save the energy equivalent to 18,500 houses per year.
The presentation was fact based and highlighted the need for a State and National Energy Policy over a “Carbon” Plan.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners. We look for people that can forward solid articles, help coordinate local education efforts, and more. Become part of the Keystone Clean Water Team!.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Waiting on Official Name change to the Keystone Clean Water Team by the IRS. Unsolicited donations are appreciated.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).
Watershed Energy Conservation – Maintaining the Balance in Pennsylvania
Community Connections to Our Watershed – Pennsylvania DCNR Program – “Working as a Community” presentation by Mr. Brian Oram, Professional Geologist, owner of B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. and manager of the Keystone Clean Water Team.
The program brings “Real world experiences bridge the gap between classroom “knowing” and community “doing””. PA Land Choices has been developed to provide participants with a basic understanding of community government and the powerful role of citizens who work toward common goals. The engaging activities in the manual provide opportunities to work collectively in teams, gaining knowledge and skills that will be useful for a lifetime. Workshops involve professional planners and other experts to help participants create, sustain and protect the special character or their neighborhoods. It is a lesson on citizenship and the democratic process practiced at one of the most important levels…right in your home town. At this presentation, we had teachers and students from Crestwood, Meyers, GAR, Coughlin, Lake Lehman, Hazleton HS, Hazleton STEM School, Hazleton Career Center, Northwest.
The Keystone Clean Water Team (that is correct) – The name change is official with the IRS– was happy to assist this program with an education and outreach program related to energy use, types of energy sources, need for a national energy policy and community approach, and the facts about Marcellus Shale Development. We talked about baseline testing, pre-existing problems, how wells can be impacted, how to understand and manage risk, ALL Energy Sources, WORKING as a Community and much more – All Fact Based. After the education program, the students toured a natural gas drilling site. The tour guide was Mr. Bill Desrosier from Cabot Oil and Gas.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners. We look for people that can forward solid articles, help coordinate local education efforts, and more. Become part of the Keystone Clean Water Team!.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot. Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Waiting on Official Name change to the Keystone Clean Water Team by the IRS. Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission).
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).
Energy Conservation and Energy Audits
We have been in this heated discussion over the use of fossil fuels and natural gas and the need to switch to renewable energy options. The main problem with the individuals leading this decision is that the approach is wrong. We need to first talk about energy conservation. We waste nearly 58% of the energy that we produce. Now, I agree much of this energy is lot in the form of heat, but it is still energy that we should be able a way to figure out how best to use. To some individuals this may seem like a relatively ok number, but I will put it another way we produce enough energy in the United States to power 2 Countries. Is it sinking in yet?
What we need
1. Taking a very hard look at energy efficient and using energy wisely. In the home, get a home energy audit. If you are looking for a business or career, start an energy audit or weatherization business, Green Building/LEED Design, or green building design/analyst.
2. Stop wasting energy – purchase energy efficient products “Energy Star” etc and unplug items when not in use.
3. Do a self energy audit and maybe
a. Change to More Efficient Light Bulbs
b. Install a programmable Thermostat
c. Install Ceiling Fans
d. Maximize the use of landscaping.
e. Use a Microwave over an oven
f. Clean Filters
g. Clean Ducts and Fix Leaks
h. Insulate / Seal Window
i. Conserve Water and Conservation Tips
4. All energy solutions should be on the table, but if you can afford -you may want to consider the use of a ground source heating and cooling system, biomass (switchgrass, waste wood, pellet stoves, outdoor wood stoves)on-demand water heater, and maybe solar water heating system.
5. Other options are also available that may work for you and your family. Look at the options from your energy supplier.
We all need to be part of the solution !
Recent Presentation to Teens In the Wilkes Barre Area.
Sponsor – Renewable Energy Products and Information
Note: Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is not for or against natural gas drilling. We are for the facts, making good decisions, and helping to inform the public on all sides of this issue.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.
Everything we do began with an idea.
We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Unsolicited donations are appreciated.
Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).
Relax, It’s Just a Run-of-the-Mill Nuke Spill
www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/26/relax-its-just-a-run-of-the-mill-nuke-spill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=relax-its-just-a-run-of-the-mill-nuke-spill
by DAVE LINDORFF
April 26, 2012
The Limerick Incident Wasn’t an “EPPI”
A little over a month ago, back on March 19, at 3:00 in the morning, the Limerick Nuclear Power Station, which runs two aging GE nuclear reactors along the Schuylkill River west of Philadelphia, had an accident. As much as 15,000 gallons of reactor water contaminated with five times the official safe limit of radioactive Tritium as well as an unknown amount of other dangerous isotopes from the reactor’s fission process blew off a manhole cover and ran out of a large pipe, flowing into a streambed and on into the river from which Philadelphia and a number of smaller towns draw their municipal water supplies.
No public announcement of this spill was made at the time, so the public in those communities had no idea that it had occurred, and water system operators had no opportunity to shut down their intakes from the river. There was no report about the spill in Philadelphia’s two daily newspapers or on local news programs.
Only weeks later, after the regional office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was finally sent an official report by Exelon, the owner of the plant, did a public notice get posted on the NRC’s website, after which some excellent reporting on the incident was done by Evan Brandt, a reporter for a local paper called The Pottstown Mercury.
We contacted the NRC regional office with oversight over Limerick and were told that Exelon had only reported the incident to state authorities — the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). A call to the DEP elicited a response that the state agency, now in the hands of a Republican governor who has shown open distain for environmental concerns ranging from nuclear waste to regulation of natural gas fracking chemicals, that it did not feel it was necessary to issue any public report on the spill. “Exelon assured us that it was not an EPPI incident,” explained DEP regional office spokeswoman Deborah Fries.
“What’s an EPPI?” she was asked. “It’s an Event of Potential Public Interest,” Fries replied.
In other words, Exelon and the state’s DEP and PEMA officials, meeting behind closed doors, agreed that the spilling of up to 15,000 gallons of radioactive isotope-laced reactor water into a river that supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people was not an event of “potential public interest,” and so they didn’t make it public, thus insuring that it would not become a matter of public interest, or even of public knowledge! The logic is impeccable, though the NRC subsequently protested that Exelon should have reported the incident to the commission, which would automatically have posted it on its website as public notice of a spill.
Read more
PennPIRG releases report on threat of nuclear power to PA drinking water
www.timesleader.com/news/PennPIRG-release-report-on.html
1/24/2012
PennPIRG releases report on threat of nuclear power to PA drinking water
The Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group (PennPIRG) Education Fund has released new data on how nuclear power plants are a threat to the drinking water for Pennsylvanians in a report, “Too Close To Home: Nuclear Power and the Threat to Drinking Water.”
The March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster delivered a reminder to the world that nuclear power comes with inherent risks when a large amount of radioactive material escaped into the environment over the ensuing months. Drinking water sources as far as 130 miles from the plant were contaminated with radioactive iodine, prompting cities such as Tokyo to warn against consumption of the water by infants.
In the United States, 49 million Americans receive their drinking water from surface sources located within 50 miles of an active nuclear power plant – inside the boundary the Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses to assess risk to food and water supplies.
According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans in 35 states drink water from sources within 50 miles of nuclear power plants. New York has the most residents drawing drinking water from sources near power plants, with the residents of New York City and its environs making up most of the total. Pennsylvania has the second most, including residents of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg.
The attached full report provides more information on the risks nuclear power poses and suggestions on how to reduce such risks.
PennPIRG- Too Close To Home Report (pdf)
Nuclear plants pose threat to groundwater
http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2010/07/24/opinion/srv0000008904317.prt
The Pottstown Mercury (pottsmerc.com), Serving Pottstown, PA
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Opinion
Nuclear plants pose threat to groundwater
A radioactive groundwater disaster could be unfolding around U.S. nuclear plants, according to a shocking documented report released in 2010, titled “Leak First, Fix Later” that can be found at www.beyondnuclear.org.
102 of 104 U.S. nuclear reactors leaked radiation into groundwater from aging and deteriorating buried pipes under the reactors.
There are two to 20 miles of buried pipeline under each nuclear plant which obviously go largely uninspected and unmaintained.
Limerick Nuclear Plant’s 25 year old underground pipes may have already leaked. It’s virtually impossible to detect all leaks in miles of pipes tangled beneath the plant. Monitoring can easily fail to detect leaks.
This is a fractured bedrock aquifer where radioactive contamination can travel in any direction, at any depth, and fail to ever be detected. Reliable monitoring would be prohibitively costly.
Radioactive leaks from Limerick could impact any of the region’s residents, now or in the future. There’s cause for concern, precaution, and prevention now, before Exelon is permitted to operate Limerick Nuclear Plant for a total of 60 years. None of the 102 nukes that leaked operated more than 41 years.
Limerick operated since 1985 (25 years). Buried pipes carrying radioactive water are vulnerable to leaks.
A 20-year license extension to operate until 2049 would allow 35 years more years of radioactive water transport (60 years total). Think what happens to pipes in older homes.
We can’t trust Exelon to immediately detect or disclose leaks. NRC’s oversight and enforcement are extremely lax.
Prevention is the only cure. What happens if groundwater becomes radioactive? There’s no way to clean it up from the ground. Filtering is cost prohibitive for many, if not impossible. Over 100 to 200 radionuclides are associated with Limerick Nuclear plant.
Before NRC rubberstamps approval for a license extension until 2049, Exelon should be required to replace all pipes buried under Limerick which carry radioactive water.
Exelon, the company with a vested interest in the outcome, claimed there’s no problem at Limerick, based solely on their own monitoring and reporting. Evidence below at other Exelon nukes shows why we can’t believe or trust Exelon.
Radioactive water contamination at Exelon’s Braidwood Nuclear Plant in Illinois was called by some “Exelon’s Radioactive Watergate.” Exelon failed to disclose 22 recurring uncontrolled radioactive spills in buried pipelines from 1996 to 2005. Since then, numerous leaks over a 10-year span were revealed at two other Exelon nuclear plants in Illinois. Leaks were significant. Just two Braidwood releases totaled six million gallons of radioactive water. Exelon supplied bottled water to 600 people for more than four years, but groundwater was contaminated for 14 years. It still is. March 2010, a legal settlement was reached. Exelon will be supplying a water system. But groundwater and soil remain radioactive. The mother of a teen battling cancer said, “If the cancer is in the air we breathe or the water we drank, I don’t think there’s enough money to go around. I know they admitted to mistakes but how do you put a price tag on the environment?” Another resident said, “It’s scary to live here, but who in their right minds would buy homes here?”
At Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant in New Jersey Exelon failed to report radioactive water leaking from buried pipes until 2009, just seven days after NRC issued its license renewal for another 20 years. This radioactive water reached a major New Jersey aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey (Reported 5/10). New Jersey DEP said the leaked radiation (50 times higher than levels allowed by law) has reached southern New Jersey’s main source of drinking water. Julia LaMense, Eastern Environmental Law Clinic, condemned NRC “for letting it come to this.” She said, “It’s a sad day when the ‘wait and see’ approach taken in response to yet another ‘trust us’ from Exelon results in contamination of one of the most significant aquifers in the region.”
The Mercury story March 28 by Evan Brandt showed the region’s residents are already subjected to too much carcinogenic groundwater contamination. It revealed that toxic plumes from two other industrial sites were contaminating groundwater in Limerick. Toxic, carcinogenic groundwater contamination will continue tor decades, if not forever, at Pottstown Landfill and the Oxy Superfund site.
It’s long past time for precaution and prevention. Exelon will apply for their 20-year Limerick Nuclear Plant license renewal soon. People who care about safe water for their families should get informed and get involved now. Call ACE at 610- 326-2387 and leave your name, phone, e-mail.
DR. LEWIS CUTHBERT
ACE President