NYCkayaker Leaks, cleared and continuing

[Richard Clifford]

NYCKayaker:
    Some might say, "right on schedule."

*Hudson River water-quality advisory lifted 6 days after sewage leak*
By GREG CLARY <MAILTO:GCLARY at LOHUD.COM>
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: May 10, 2007)

Westchester County health officials this afternoon declared the Hudson 
River safe for boaters, marinas and recreational water users six days 
after sewer main break in Yonkers let 7.5 million gallons of raw sewage 
flow into the river.

The Health Department has determined that the water is now safe for 
recreational use and no longer poses a public health risk.

The alert was put into place Friday after a 4-foot-diameter pipe 
carrying sewage broke near the Greystone Metro-North train station in 
Yonkers.

..................

And some others might point out that while you are considering the 
environmental issues of "leaks" that you consider this:


*Indian Point finds tritium in its sewers*
By GREG CLARY <MAILTO:GCLARY at LOHUD.COM>
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: May 10, 2007)

BUCHANAN - Indian Point officials have found traces of tritium in the 
nuclear plants' sewer pipes that connect to the Buchanan sewage system, 
the first indication that the radioactive isotope may be reaching the 
village.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials confirmed the report yesterday, 
saying they would be independently verifying the test results sent in a 
company e-mail to Buchanan and other elected officials and the agency.

The memo, obtained by The Journal News, stated that during an April 30 
test of sewage at the plant, tritium was found at a radiation 
concentration of 8,000 pico curies per liter - a fraction of the 10 
million pico curies per liter allowed in sewage.

Company and regulatory officials stressed that there was no threat to 
public or worker safety.

Westchester County officials said the amount of radiation wasn't as much 
of a concern as how the radiation ended up in sewer pipes.

"We were notified immediately, and from what we understand, there's no 
threat because it's a very, very low level," said Susan Tolchin, chief 
adviser to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. "The issue is how 
it got there ... and we need a full investigation to determine that."

Indian Point officials have already begun their probe, they say, though 
the answers may take awhile.

"At this point, it's too soon to even have a hypothesis," said Donald 
Mayer, the Entergy official in charge of investigating groundwater 
contamination at Indian Point. "We obtained some additional samples 
(Tuesday), and those will tell us where we have to go next."

Mayer said the company would be testing for strontium 90 in the sewage 
system as well as tritium, though the strontium tests would not have 
results as fast because the laboratory work takes longer. Strontium 90 
is a more dangerous radioactive isotope produced during a nuclear reaction.

Mayer said because the tritium was found in a sewage line, the company 
is focusing on sewage sump pumps and the rest of the system.

"There's something that's getting into one of these lines," Mayer said. 
"It could be a crack in a pipe."

He said the company has been monitoring the sewer lines since the fall 
and got a couple of readings early this year showing barely detectable 
levels of tritium. The most recent reading was the largest by a factor 
of two, Mayer said.

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency wanted more information about 
how tritium could have "gotten into the presumably closed sewage 
disposal system."

"We have an inspector up there this week who specializes in the whole 
groundwater contamination issue, so we'll be following up on that," he said.

The plants have been leaking tritium since at least August 2005, when 
workers discovered a crack at the base of a building that houses a 
400,000-gallon spent-fuel storage tank at Indian Point 2.

As nuclear plant officials dug wells to determine the extent of the 
tritium leak, they found the radioactive isotope strontium 90 leaking 
from Indian Point 1 - which was shut down in 1974. The two leaks do not 
appear to be connected, company officials have said.

Hydrologists and other experts had said that whatever leaking radiation 
was leaving the site was likely going into the Hudson River, where it 
would be diluted many times over by the large volume of water.

Buchanan Mayor Daniel O'Neill said he was not concerned about the 
findings because the levels found are so low, but was interested in 
seeing the results of more testing.

"The sewage system is a closed one. The drainage lines go directly to 
the treatment plant," O'Neill said. "The fact that there have been some 
leaks, of course, is not good, but you have to put it into context that 
this is an electric power plant and there are always going to be 
problems when it comes to making electricity."

O'Neill said he would rather live next to a nuclear plant than 
coal-burning plant, given the amount of pollution around other power 
plants in the country.

He said the village drinking water would not be compromised by 
radioactive isotopes leaking at the plant because the water is piped in 
from reservoirs farther north.

George Smith, a foreman at the Buchanan sewage treatment plant, said the 
operation handles about 350,000 gallons of sewage daily. The 23-year 
veteran said Indian Point's portion of that is "very little," though he 
didn't know an exact percentage.

The sewage treatment plant is about a mile from the nuclear plant, Smith 
said, and the effluent from the plant takes a few days to make it from 
Indian Point through the treatment plant before it is released into the 
Hudson River at permitted levels.

State Department of Environmental Conservation officials said they were 
aware of the tritium in the sewer lines and will track this latest 
development as they have the earlier sampling.

"DEC is still evaluating the most recent data," agency spokeswoman 
Kimberly Chupa wrote in an e-mail to The Journal News. "To date, the 
data shows that the concentrations of strontium and tritium are below 
regulatory limits. The Department will conduct additional testing if it 
is determined to be necessary."



-- 

*Richard C. Clifford, Esq.*
Attorney at Law
1890 Palmer Avenue, Suite 302
Larchmont, NY 10538

Tel: (914) 834-0100 -or- 0757
Cell: (917) 854-5824
Fax: (914) 834-0888

RichardClifford at earthlink.net 
RichardClifford at NYSBar.com


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