--- On Thu, 8/11/11, Nuclear Information and Resource Service
<[email protected]> wrote:
6930 Carroll Avenue, #340, Takoma Park, MD 20912; 301-270-6477;
[email protected]; www.nirs.org
TELL THE EPA: PROTECT OUR WATER FROM NUKES AND COAL!
COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED THROUGH AUGUST 18, 2011
August 11, 2011
Dear Friends,
In mid-July we sent the Alert partially reprinted below about a
critical EPA rulemaking that could end the use of environmentally devastating
once-through cooling systems at nuclear reactors and coal plants. More than
3500 of you already have submitted comments--thank you! But that means many
thousands of you have not yet submitted your views.
The comment period has now been extended until August 18. If you
haven't already, please comment today! The sample comment letter is here.
The nuclear industry knows how critical this rulemaking is and they are
continuing their all-out campaign to get nuclear backers and employees to send
in comments. The industry knows that many of the aging reactors in the U.S.
would close rather than spend the considerable money necessary to install
modern cooling systems. We need to absolutely flood the EPA with our comments.
Please act now.
By the way, it was great to see so many friends--old and new--at last
Sunday's amazing MUSE concert! There are lots of photos and videos posted on
our main Facebook page here. And you can see Aileen Mioko Smith's (from Green
Action Japan) moving speech on conditions at Fukushima on our website. Thanks
to all the musicians and everyone at Guacamole Fund for putting together this
incredible event!
July 14, 2011
Dear Friends,
Thanks to years of inaction, hundreds of outdated power plants--mostly
nuclear and coal--across the country use antiquated cooling water systems that
scoop up massive amounts of water from local waterways and trap and crush
aquatic life to death in the process. Each year these power plants kill
billions of fish from our lakes, streams, and coastal waters.
Decades ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to come
up with new, national requirements to modernize power plant cooling systems
and fix this problem. But instead the agency is now caving to industry
pressure and has proposed a new cooling water rule that takes a weak stance
and punts decision making to the states on a case-by-case basis. This
approach hasn’t worked in the past and won’t work now.
Even worse, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has launched an all-out
campaign through its Nuclear Advocacy Network to demand an even weaker
approach from EPA. NEI claims that more than 7,000 people already have sent
letters to the EPA from its side. We need to counter their efforts, and
quickly.
Urge EPA to stand up for our waters and wildlife. You can submit a
comment here urging EPA to adopt a strong standard for modernizing power plant
cooling systems in its final rule.
BACKGROUND
America’s aging power plants are not only the nation’s largest air
polluters, they also withdraw more water than any other source, causing
staggering aquatic impacts. And nuclear reactors are the largest water users
of them all.
Power plants’ toll on fisheries rivals, and in some cases exceeds,
that of the fishing industry. Fortunately, none of this damage is necessary
because modern closed-cycle cooling systems recirculate cooling water,
reducing withdrawals and fish kills by about 95 percent. Since 1972, Section
316(b) of the federal Clean Water Act has required power plants to use the
Best Technology Available (BTA) to minimize the adverse environmental impacts
of cooling water intake structures.
In 2001, EPA issued national regulations identifying closed-cycle
cooling as BTA for new power plants. But many older reactors, typically
although not exclusively those built more than 30 years ago, still rely on
antiquated and damaging once-through cooling systems, which withdraw water
directly from its source but do not recycle it. Instead the water is thrown
back into its source at far higher temperatures than it was when taken in.
For more information on the environmental devastation caused by
once-through cooling at nuclear reactors, see Licensed to Kill, a report
published by NIRS and other groups in 2001 and available here.
The rule EPA proposed on April 20, 2011 would be a step backward in
our collective efforts to safeguard America's waters. Basically, EPA has
chosen the path of least resistance by caving into industry pressure and
punting this issue to state agencies–agencies that too often lack the
resources and the ability to stand up to industry on this issue. And if the
Nuclear Energy Institute gets its way, things will get even worse. What is
needed is a clear rule focused on modernizing power plants by stopping the use
of once-through cooling.
Thanks to our friends at NRDC for being on top of this issue and
providing us with the basis for this Alert and the sample comment letter.
Thanks for all you do,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
[email protected]
www.nirs.org
Your contributions make our work possible: on radioactive waste; on
preventing new reactor construction; on seeking shutdown of dangerous existing
reactors; on building a nuclear-free carbon-free energy future.We can't do
this work without your support. Please make a tax-deductible contribution
here, or after you've submitted your comments.
Stay Informed:
NIRS on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-Information-and-Resource-Service/26490791479?sk=wall&filter=12
http://www.facebook.com/nonukesnirs
http://www.causes.com/causes/49098-no-nukes-nuclear-information-and-resource-service
NIRS on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nirsnet
Please note: NIRS never sells, rents, trades, or otherwise makes our
e-mail lists available to other organizations or individuals for any reason.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
