Nuclear Spill Disclosure Bill Clears Senate
Dahl expects Blagojevich will sign tritium-leak response measure into law
By Jo Ann Hustis
Morris Daily Herald, IL
March 28, 2006
SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Gary Dahl sees no reason why Gov. Rod Blagojevich shouldn’t sign legislation to more closely regulate nuclear generating stations in Illinois.
“Everybody’s been in favor of the bill,” the Granville Republican said today. “The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency supported this all the way through (the House and Senate). I don’t see where the governor would hesitate to sign it.”
Dahl is the chief Senate sponsor of House Bill 1620, which would hold the state’s nuclear generating stations to more-strict environmental standards. The Senate approved the measure Monday in a 49-0 vote.
State Representative Careen Gordon, D-Morris, proposed HB 1620, which passed in the House last week by a vote of 114-0. The bill now returns to the House for approval of the amended version before going to the governor for his signature.
Dahl said he talked Monday evening to Gordon, who told him she was confident the legislation would not have any trouble passing in the House this time around.
The bill is in response to recent tritium leaks at several generating stations owned by Exelon Nuclear, including Braidwood Station at Braceville, Dresden Station at Morris, and Byron Station at Rockford.
Tritium is a naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen which emits a very low level of radiation, and is found in more concentrated levels in water used in nuclear generating stations.
Under the measure, nuclear plant owners and operators would be required to report to the IEPA any accidental releases of a contaminant within 24 hours. This includes illegal spills, leaks, emissions, discharges, escapes, leaching, and disposal of contaminants into groundwater, surface water, or the soil.
The IEPA would have a year after the bill goes into effect to prescribe standards to the Illinois Pollution Control Board for detecting and reporting unpermitted releases of contaminants.
The IPCB must then set standards to detect and report the releases.
The legislation also requires the IEPA and Illinois Emergency Management Agency to inspect, at least quarterly, every nuclear station in Illinois for non-permitted releases.
Dahl did not believe the quarterly inspections would add more staff to the agencies.
“I don’t see why it should,” he noted. “I would think there’d be enough people there to get these done. It’s just a matter of prioritizing. Sometimes we put so much paperwork into things we don’t actually get the fieldwork done.”
HB 1620 is part of the Will-Grundy County response to a series of tritium-laced water spills at Braidwood Station, beginning in 1996, but not made public until December 2005.
“I think this measure is going to be a help. The Braidwood situation is growing way out of proportion. The problem I see is that the vultures are circling,” said Dahl.
“We’re drawing in attorneys from all over the country. Exelon has created some problems and needs to get its act straight.
“But we’re having class-action lawsuits, and who is getting rich from this, the trial attorneys or the residents? My guess is, it’s going to be the attorneys.”
Dahl said, up to now, Exelon has been willing to voluntarily assist with fixing the water problem in the village of Godley, south of Braidwood Station, and to assist in other ways as much as it can.
“Putting myself in their position as a businessman, and I’m trying to do what’s right and voluntarily being a good neighbor, and my back’s to the wall with multi-million dollar lawsuits,” he noted.
“And every time I open my mouth and say I want to do this and that for them, then some high-powered attorneys are taking these statements to court and saying, ‘You’re admitting guilt.’ And, that’s too bad.”
In a related matter, Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis met last week with Illinois Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss the radioactive water spills at Braidwood Station.
Moustis said in a prepared news release he was encouraged that positive steps would be taken toward solving public health and safety issues in the wake of the spills.
He also repeated his request for a review of all laws governing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“As much as we need laws that hold companies accountable for actions after the fact, our goal should be to make sure that radiation leaks never happen at all,” he said in the news brief.
“Poison is poison, and that’s why we need a strong NRC with strong laws they can enforce.”
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