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Cape Downwinders Initiates Local Ballot Initiative
Cape residents and visitors are "in harm's way"
Towns across Cape Cod are considering placing a non-binding public advisory question on the municipal ballot or spring town warrant to call for the shut down of Entergy's Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Currently the towns of Dennis, Brewster, Wellfleet, and Truro will have a ballot question. Mashpee will have a warrant article. Harwich is re-writing one to include safety concerns such as the highly radioactive waste in the spent fuel pool and should be on the ballot.
Scheduled to vote for inclusion on the town ballot/warrant are Yarmouth, Chatham, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Orleans. Bourne voted no but there is an effort to collect 100 signatures to put it on the town warrant. Barnstable has a town council so their election is in November.
If you live on the Cape, we ask for your support. The language includes:
Petition for a Nonbinding Public Opinion Advisory Question for the Wellfleet Spring 2013 Ballot
Whereas, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Director Kurt Schwartz has acknowledged that Cape residents and visitors are "in harm's way" in the event of a radiological accident at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth;
Whereas, MEMA has determined that Cape residents and visitors will not be evacuated but plans to relocate Cape citizens after exposure to dangerous radioactive materials released in an accident;
Whereas, citizens of the Town of Wellfleet find this State response to Pilgrim's threat to our health and safety unacceptable and in violation of the public trust;
Therefore, be it resolved that we the people of Wellfleet respectfully request Governor Deval Patrick to call upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to uphold their mandate to shut Entergy's Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth because the public safety, particularly Cape and Islands residents and visitors, cannot be assured.
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Cape Downwinders Remember Fukushima in Falmouth
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Joyce Johnson of Falmouth
Photo Credit: Paul Rifkin
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The Cape Downwinders and supporters brought flags, banners and a lot of spirit out to the Falmouth Town Green last weekend for the Fukushima Memorial Rally. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami set off the Fukushima nuclear reactor. The largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl brings great concern locally because Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth is powered by the same type of General Electric Mark I reactor as Fukushima.
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Elaine Dickinson of Harwich & Lillia Frantin of Falmouth
Photo Credit: Paul Rifkin
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March 20 Pilgrim Coalition Meeting
The Plug-In workshop, hosted by the Pilgrim Coalition on February 6th, was a great success! Approximately 75 individuals attended and learned about ways to get involved. The coalition now has a host of new volunteers helping with a variety of projects. To see photos from the event, click here >>
The next Pilgrim Coalition Plug-in meeting will be March 20, 2013, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Check in is at 6:30-7 p.m., then the event will follow in the Otto Fehlow Room at the Plymouth Public Library. Cape Cod Bay Watch will be meeting with volunteers to further plan the Save Our Bay Flotilla, scheduled for June 9th. New volunteers are welcome to attend.
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Pilgrim 14 Case Dismissed, "But They Cannot Dismiss the Issue." 5 Later Arrested at Pilgrim Nuclear
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Courtesy: Wicked Local Plymouth/Frank Mand
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On Wednesday, Plymouth County Court Judge Kathryn Hand accepted the Commonwealth's Motion to dismiss the trespass charges against the eleven defendants who sought to deliver a letter to Entergy Corporation of Louisiana on May 20, 2012. The letter requested that Entergy withdraw its relicensing application to operate the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Facility for an additional 20 years.
The defendants opposed the dismissal and were prepared to mount a vigorous necessity defense starting on Monday, March 18, 2013. They wanted to justify why they felt it necessary to trespass and had several renowned expert witnesses ready to testify.
Defendant David Agnew said, "The Commonwealth should be more concerned with Entergy's radiation leaks trespassing upon its people than the symbolic acts of well-meaning citizens."
The court room was filled with Pilgrim 14 supporters and immediately following the court's ruling about 50 people went directly to the main gate of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to protest. The lack of any security allowed the 50 or so protesters to march onto Entergy property and to get very near the reactor building before anyone noticed. Five people were arrested for criminal trespass: Paul Rifkin of Barnstable, Susan Carpenter of Dennis, Michael Risch of Falmouth, Elaine Dickinson of Harwich, and Ben Almada of Manomet. The charges against Rifkn, Risch and Carpenter have been dismissed. Paul Rifkin stated, "They can dismiss the case, but they cannot dismiss the issue."
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Another Legal Avenue Closed for Pilgrim Safety Advocates, But...
...It's No Surprise - And It's Not Over Yet!
From the Cape Cod Bay Watch Blog
On February 26, 2013, the Massachusetts Attorney General's office lost a bid to force the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to consider new information about public safety and environmental risks from the continued operation of Entergy's Pilgrim nuclear reactor. A copy of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals decision is here. Mass AG v NRC
The Attorney General tried to argue that Fukushima nuclear disaster revealed new information about high level nuclear waste spent fuel pool fires and core damage events that should be considered before Pilgrim was relicensed for 20 years, beyond its 40 year life. These "events" would release large amounts of radioactive material throughout the region, with unimaginable consequences.
The Court ruled in favor of Entergy and the NRC, and would not let the AG proceed with the challenge. No surprise there! Winning a court case against the NRC and the nuclear industry is extremely difficult. This is because the law that created the NRC, called the Atomic Energy Act, gives the NRC expansive powers to make the rules about who can challenge their decisions. As the Court said, the Atomic Energy Act is "a regulatory scheme which is virtually unique in the degree to which broad responsibility is reposed in the administering agency [the NRC]...." The Act is pro-industry, and the NRC, in making more rules (called regulations) on who can challenge its decisions, has taken that mission to heart: protect the industry, shut out public interest advocates.
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12th Annual Walk for a New Spring
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Photo Credit: Paul Rifkin
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It was a little wet as you can see, but we thank everyone who still came out for the 12th Annual Walk for a New Spring when it stopped outside Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Feb. 25. The 50-day "Walk for People, Walk for Earth" started in Leverett, Mass. on Feb. 15 and will continue down to Washington D.C. The goal of the walk is nuclear disarmament and an end to the nuclear chain from uranium mining to radioactive waste. It was organized by the New England Peace Pagoda.
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NUKE MATTERS:
Long-Term Nuclear Waste Storage at Pilgrim
 Read the latest article in an ongoing series being published in the Old Colony Memorial newspaper of Plymouth and on the Wicked Local website.
The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on the shores of Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth has been operating since 1972. Electricity is only the fleeting by-product of Pilgrim's operations. Pilgrim's long-term legacy is the high level nuclear waste generated by 40 plus years of splitting atoms to make electricity. This waste is now being stored on site in a temporary facility that is potentially dangerous.
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About the Pilgrim Coalition. We are a non-partisan network of citizens and organizations dedicated to raising awareness of - and reducing - significant risks to public safety, health and our environment arising from the continued operation of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, located in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
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