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Sierra Club urges moratorium on Pilgrim plant discharge; bill S.540 would bar radioactive releases
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Summary
A representative of the Massachusetts Sierra Club urged the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management to advance S.540, a resolve to prevent the discharge of radioactive materials. Testimony focused on Holtec International’s handling of wastewater from the Pilgrim nuclear plant, local health and economic concerns, and a high‑turnout
Arthur Desloges, testifying for the Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club, urged the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management to advance Senate Resolve S.540, which would prevent discharge of radioactive materials. Desloges described recent Pilgrim nuclear power plant decommissioning work and community opposition to planned disposal methods.
"This discharge threatened our human health, the environment, and the local economy," Desloges said, describing community efforts to block an earlier plan by Holtec International to release treated wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. He said Holtec later used industrial heaters to accelerate evaporation of contaminated pool water into the air and that the Plymouth Board of Health had characterized the activity as a public‑health threat.
Desloges told committee members that U.S. Rep. William Keating and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey had urged Holtec to engage the community and that local officials had advanced state legislation to pause or review the company’s accelerated evaporation method. He also said a municipal referendum in Plymouth passed with more than 90 percent voting in favor of stopping the discharge, and that 16 neighboring communities joined, generating “over 30,000 yes votes.”
Committee members asked whether anyone else had questions; none were raised. The committee closed the public testimony on S.540 without taking a vote during the hearing.
Ending: The committee closed the S.540 testimony segment. If advanced, the resolve could pause Holtec’s current activities and require additional review or a moratorium until further study.
