Saturday, Feb. 18

Illinois EPA confronts Exelon with nuclear releases       Send a link to a friend

[FEB. 18, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- As part of an ongoing enforcement process, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency met Friday with representatives of Exelon Nuclear to discuss multiple releases of water containing tritium from their Illinois nuclear power facility in Braidwood.

During the meeting, the Illinois EPA intended to emphasize its concern about the safety of Illinois groundwater and ask that Exelon perform additional investigation of not only the Braidwood facility, but of all their facilities in Illinois, and to report to the agency how many releases have occurred and the extent of any resulting contamination of the groundwater. In addition, the agency will request that Exelon sample all private drinking water wells that would potentially be affected by any of the releases.

"We were disappointed to learn about the old incidents only recently," said Doug Scott, Illinois EPA director. "Groundwater is a precious resource belonging to the state of Illinois, and IEPA will aggressively work to protect it, as well as the people that rely on it for drinking water."

The Illinois EPA first became aware of the potential for tritium contamination in groundwater after being notified by the public in the fall of 2004 of a spill that occurred at the Dresden nuclear power plant, when tritium was detected in some on-site monitoring wells. After discussions with citizens and local officials near the Braidwood plant, Illinois EPA became aware of tritium releases that potentially affected the groundwater and private drinking water wells near that plant as well. Since then, the agency has become aware of numerous releases of water containing tritium at several of Exelon's nuclear facilities across the state.

The meeting Friday was part of the ongoing enforcement process against the Braidwood facility. Exelon requested the meeting to discuss their proposal to correct the consequences of the 1998 release of tritium, which the agency learned about in November 2005, as well as other releases. Illinois EPA then issued a violation notice to Exelon.

Among the options available to Illinois EPA is to refer the matter to the Illinois attorney general, who has additional enforcement authority, including levying of fines and penalties. Illinois EPA has advised the attorney general's office of the issues relating to the numerous tritium releases.

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"It has become apparent to me that the reporting mechanism in place is not adequate to protect the groundwater or the people that rely on it as a source of drinking water," Scott said. "I also intend to pursue avenues to correct this gap and discuss options with Senators Durbin and Obama, as well as state elected officials."

The current reporting process obligates Exelon to report spills of water containing tritium or other radionuclides to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There is not a process in place for Exelon to directly notify the state environmental agency, which is charged with protecting the state's groundwater.

To ensure that citizens in the areas of these facilities receive the most recent information about Illinois EPA's activities, the agency is establishing a Web page containing documents relating to the tritium releases at Exelon's Illinois facilities. In addition, a repository containing all documents related to the Braidwood facility will soon be available at the Godley Park District offices. Repositories will be developed for the other facilities as information becomes available.

The agency is compiling a contact list for any future mailings. To be added to this list, call Carol Fuller at (217) 524-8807 or e-mail her at Carol.Fuller@epa.state.il.us.

Groundwater is a resource belonging to the state of Illinois. Contamination of groundwater is a violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and of Illinois groundwater regulations and can adversely affect the health and welfare of the citizens and the economy. Illinois EPA is charged with protecting the state's groundwater resource through under the provisions of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 620 and the Illinois Groundwater Protection Act adopted in 1987.

[Illinois Environmental Protection Agency news release]


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