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January 17, 2023 Newsletter/Eblast
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Statement of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe Opposing Holtec’s Proposed Dumping for 11/28/22
NDCAP Meeting Good evening. For thousands of years, the Native people of this region have fished in the waters in and around Cape Cod Bay. To us, the land, water, plants, and wildlife that we co-exist with are alive and sacred. We feel a deep responsibility to our tribal youth to ensure that they and their children inherit a planet that has been nurtured, not destroyed. Holtec’s proposal to illegally dump over a million gallons of radioactive waste into these sacred waters would damage our shellfish, our finned fish and all the gifts of the sea that give us sustenance. To us, there is no level of radioactive water that can be considered safe. That is why, since the start of this year, we have opposed the dumping. To the Herring Pond Wampanoag, this is a continuation of centuries of colonial domination and expropriation in the heart of our unceded territory. We expressed our protest formally in a letter dated March 15, 2022
We, the Herring Pond Wampanoag – the original inhabitants of these lands, and the original stakeholders; we who live right next to Pilgrim Station, built on our unceded territory – have been rudely overlooked, and ignored as if we did not exist! But we do exist – we have existed and will continue to exist. We are still here.
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Article 32 (Paragraph 2) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that ALL Indigenous people have a right to good faith consultation and cooperation “prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands, territories, and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water, or other resources.” This includes, by any measure of justice, the Herring Pond Wampanoag. In fact, it is precisely on the issue of justice that we take issue with a particularly spurious argument from Holtec and their allies. In his June 15th letter to Senator Markey, Holtec’s CEO Kris Singh proclaimed his company’s commitment to environmental justice. He wrote: “The suggestion...to ship the water to another location for discharge runs counter to our basic tenets of environmental justice, which has led us to discard the idea.” These words ring hollow in the face of Holtec’s apparent intention to dump radioactive wastewater into our ancient and sacred waters. They ring hollow when Holtec fails to acknowledge and consult our Herring Pond community, the first inhabitants and stewards of these lands and waters. Holtec is ignoring the very indigenous voices whose dispossession made the plant possible. How can this possibly be understood as justice? It is not justice, it is colonialism – from our perspective, Singh’s words make a mockery of environmental justice. For over 400 years we have witnessed repeated assaults on our traditional homelands and our environment. When will it stop? Holtec’s behavior shows blatant disregard for the rights, needs and feelings of our indigenous community. It continues to inflict a multi-generational legacy of trauma, abuse and exploitation and municipalities throughout Massachusetts have also sent correspondence opposing this action. The dumping of toxic waste into the waters that sustain us could have a grave impact on not only our life ways, but all of yours. Once again, we, the first inhabitants of Plymouth, say No to Dumping! It is not just, it is not legal, and it must not happen. kutâputash - Thank you
Melissa Ferretti
Chairwoman Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe
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Do Not Let Holtec Destroy Our Bay!
Monday, January 23, 2023
Zoom link to meeting will be sent out when available.
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Senator Markey's Statement on Holtec’s Commitment to Not
Illegally Discharge Pilgrim Plant Wastewater into Cape Cod Bay:
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Boston (December 20, 2022) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, released the following statement today in response to Holtec’s renewed commitment to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will not illegally discharge effluent water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station without proper authorization and that it would pursue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit:
“I’m glad that Holtec has finally committed to following the law. Under pressure, the company has agreed to seek the proper permits in its process of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, and has agreed to not illegally discharge the plant’s radioactive wastewater without authorization. Earlier this year, Holtec representatives heard first-hand accounts from Cape residents and community stakeholders at the field hearing I convened in Plymouth. Holtec has a legal duty to comply with federal regulations and a moral duty to heed the concerns of these residents, who for too long have been kept in the dark about the decommissioning of this plant. I will continue to hold Holtec accountable throughout this decommissioning process and urge the company to make good on its promise to not allow any unsafe discharge into Cape Cod Bay.”
https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases
Text of Holtec’s Letter to EPA (PDF)
Senators Markey and Warren and Representatives Keating and Moulton have had repeated contact with Holtec regarding its plans to discharge wastewater and have made clear their opposition to dumping it in Cape Cod Bay.
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Association to Preserve Cape Cod
Hires Boston Law Firm
to Fight Discharge of Pilgrim's Radioactive Water.
“CAI (capeandislands.org) has learned that the Association to Preserve Cape Cod has hired a Boston law firm to try to block the discharge of radioactive water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, which shut down in 2019.
“The association will be ready to go to court, if necessary, before Pilgrim owner Holtec International is finished using the water, according to Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb. 'The use of the bay as a dumping ground for Holtec’s wastewater problem is a grossly inappropriate use of public resources and patently illegal,’ he said.
“Attorneys Lisa Goodheart and Dylan Sanders are advising the group and will represent the association if the matter goes to court. They specialize in energy and environmental law with Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen.
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“Holtec representative David Noyes revealed at a public meeting last month that the company plans to file for modifications to state and federal water-discharge permits. Doing so would be a step toward discharge of the water [once used to cool nuclear fuel] into Cape Cod Bay. The company has said it will likely use multiple methods to dispose of the water, including discharge, evaporation, trucking out of state for storage, and, if necessary, storage at Pilgrim.
“The timing of a potential release of radioactive water is uncertain.
“Gottlieb said if his organization goes to court, the argument will likely focus on the content of Pilgrim’s permits, rather than the science of nuclear safety. Debating whether Pilgrim’s water is above or below scientific standards for discharge is not the legal issue right now, he said.
“‘It’s not an authorized discharge (in the permits),’ he said. ‘Therefore, it's illegal.’”
Excerpted from an article by Jennette Barnes, CAI
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Social Action Committee
First Parish Plymouth
12 Church Street, Plymouth, MA 02360
sociala...@gmail.com |
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The Social Action Committee of First Parish Plymouth
supports every woman's right to choose and make decisions over her own body.
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Copies of all correspondence are kept in both digital and hard copy formats.
_____________________ SAC Members Rick McDonald
Donna Petrangelo
Patricia Devine
Valerie Peck
Abigail Bottome
Lee Marchant
Dianne Wetherbee
Rev. Arthur Lavoie, Ex-Officio If you are interested in becoming part of our team, please join us.
We meet in person at 10 a.m. on the 3rd Monday of each month.
(Our January meeting day/date has changed to
Weds., Jan. 18 and is via zoom.)
If you have any issues that you feel Social Action needs to address, please contact us @ sociala...@gmail.com |
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