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Environmental Advocates Mayor, Croton-on-Hudson New York Public Interest Research Group No Escape Pace Energy Project Standing for Truth About Radiation Westchester People's Action Coalition
May 26, 2000
Hon. Sheldon Silver
Hon. Joseph Bruno Dear Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Bruno: We are writing to request that legislative hearings be held in the Westchester County area to completely reassess the Radiological Emergency Plans (REPs) for the counties surrounding the Indian Point nuclear power plants. In a separate letter to Governor Pataki, we have requested that he have the State Emergency Management Office conduct its own reassessment of the REPs. In their current form, the REPs do not sufficiently address matters pertaining to transportation infrastructure and wind patterns. The Indian Point plants should not be allowed to operate if a concrete and credible plan - that absolutely protects public health and safety - cannot be presented to the citizens both within and beyond the 10-mile radius. On February 15, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties experienced a reawakening when Consolidated Edison's Indian Point 2 plant released an undetermined amount of radiation into the surrounding community and an emergency alert was declared. Since then the nuclear emergency response plan - which would require the evacuation of nearly 280,000 citizens within a 10-mile radius - has come under intense scrutiny. Flaws within the plan have drawn criticism from local government officials. In an April 20, 2000 Putnam County Courier article, Putnam County Legislator Sam Oliverio stated: "The evacuation plan is make-believe. It won't work. Everybody realizes the plan is a sham. This is only a band-aid for a very serious wound. The [Indian Point 2] plant must not be permitted to reopen until our safety is 100-percent guaranteed." Quoted in the same article, Robert McMahon, Putnam Commissioner of Emergency Services, stated that "Serious design modifications must be made" to the plan. "Access roads which have been designated as evacuation routes are now too cluttered with traffic. Twenty years ago when they were designed for evacuation, they may have been OK but they are now too congested." In an April 4, 2000 Westchester County Board of Legislators Meeting on Public Safety, Westchester County Legislator Richard Wishnie stated: "This plan will never work with the road [infra]structure that we have. It's been indicated …. by police officials and public officials. We're doing the best we can with a plan that's been worked on for three decades. But quite frankly, we all know…in our hearts this would never work to the efficiency and effectiveness we would want it to." Also in that meeting, Yorktown Police Captain William Calcutta stated: "We don't have the road structure to support the normal rush hour traffic….We can get officers out to direct traffic but quite frankly I don't know where you're going to direct them, from one intersection to the next? So as far as Yorktown is concerned with the police department and the fire personnel, we can get people out to assist and direct traffic but very little sense in directing traffic when it's bumper to bumper in any direction." Federal law requires that the owners of all nuclear power plants follow a specific emergency plan to respond to a serious nuclear accident. The purposes of the nuclear accident emergency plan are 1) to monitor the magnitude of a nuclear accident, 2) to evacuate and shelter people living in the emergency planning zone and 3) to isolate contaminated food and water supplies so that radioactive materials are not ingested. The current plan for the communities surrounding Indian Point 2 and 3 is clearly inadequate. The timeframe of 3 to 15 hours to completely evacuate over 280,000 citizens within a ten mile radius could result in residents' exposure to cancer causing levels of radiation. Because the environmental and public health stakes are so high, the state must take responsibility for presenting the citizens with a credible emergency plan. Four counties, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange are in the emergency planning zone. The New York State Emergency Management Office is responsible for coordinating the response of the four counties. Therefore, it is the most appropriate agency to coordinate a comprehensive review of the adequacy of current plans and, if a practical, feasible evacuation plan can not be developed under existing conditions, take the necessary steps to close the plant as a public safety hazard. Some of the questions that such a review should address are as follows: - Is the current time period for evacuation of the emergency-planning zone realistic given the size of the population residing in the area? The plan estimates that it could take 10 hours and 50 minutes during a winter day with school in session and adverse weather to evacuate everyone living within 2 miles of the plant and a portion of those living within 5 miles of the plant. - Where will people go if an area larger than the 10-mile zone needs to be evacuated? The plan advises people to go to the home of a friend or relative outside of the emergency-planning zone. Reception centers will be set up for people who have no other place to go to. However, the reception centers are located within 15 to 20 miles of the plant. A severe core damage accident with adverse wind conditions could contaminate an area significantly larger than the 10-mile emergency-planning zone. Approximately 8 percent of the population of the United States live within 50 miles of the Indian Point nuclear plants. In the event of a severe core damage accident, what plans exist for evacuating an area beyond a 20-mile radius from the plants? - How can public safety and school personnel prevent parents from picking up their children at schools? - How will contaminated food and water be isolated from consumption? The New York Commissioner of Health can quarantine foods and ban the drinking of water. The County Director of Emergency Management is then responsible for distributing uncontaminated supplies of water and food. The Amawalk and New Croton Reservoirs are located within the emergency-planning zone. It provides drinking water for Westchester County and NY City. The plan does not explain how drinking water would be provided for this large of a population for an extended time. - What will happen to individuals who are hospitalized or require sophisticated medical attention that cannot be immediately evacuated? FDR Veterans Hospital, Hudson Valley Hospital and Sing Sing are located within the emergency-planning zone. The current plan states that they will remain sheltered where they are and will be given tablets of potassium iodide to protect them from thyroid cancer if radiation doses are high. The plan is not specific about who will remain at these sites to care for people who are unable to evacuate. We look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Ed Smeloff, Executive Director Kyle Rabin, Program Associate Brian Flack, Staff Attorney Hon. Judy Shepard Mayor Robert W. Elliott Mark Jacobs, Executive Director Marilyn Elie Margo Schepart Scott Cullen, Counsel Cc: Governor George Pataki
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