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Wake-Up Call: Hello Connecticut. It's Time to Wake Up to the Millstone
Menace!
Dominion Dominates the Debate.
The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone has launched an all-out
initiative to block the Millstone sale to Dominion Resources, Inc.
Dominion bills itself as one of the nation's largest energy producers
with $29 billion in assets. It announced its successful bid to purchase
the three reactors at Millstone in August 2000 for $1.3 billion
in cash. Dominion has billed itself to the Connecticut community
as a safe and reliable operator of nuclear power. Dominion says
it has a respectable environmental record. Dominion says it is a
good neighbor in its Virginia community.
CCAM has taken a closer look. Don't believe Dominion. Dominion can't
be trusted. Here is what we found:
The $1.3 billion Dominion has offered to pay for Millstone is in
cash - but somebody else's cash. Dominion is actually going into
debt to borrow the purchase price!
At Dominion's Surry nuclear reactors in Newport News, Virginia,
nine workers have died in accidents. This compares with fewer than
five deaths throughout the rest of the commercial nuclear power
industry from 1992-1999, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The nine Surry deaths are in addition to fatal heart attacks suffered
by workers at the Dominion's North Anna reactors near Charlottesville,
Virginia. One worker suffered a fatal heart attack during a refueling
outage - bringing to seven the number of incidences of serious cardiac
events at North Anna in the first four months of 1996 - when Dominion
was racing to get the reactor back on line to establish an industry
record. Efficiency at what price?
Dominion broke another industry record last month when it agreed
to a $1.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the New York State Attorney General after being sued
for serious violations of the Clean Air Act. Dominion's notorious
"Big Storm" plant in West Virginia - one of eight dirty
coal-fired plants run by Dominion for profit - churned 104,600 tons
of sulphur dioxide and 38,640 tons of nitrogen oxides into the air
in 1999 alone. The emissions are destroying the rivers, lakes and
fishlife that once thrived in pristine wildernesses of the Northeast
, and are endangering the health of our citizens, especially our
children and the elderly. It took the might of the Federal Government
and the guts of New York State's Attorney General (Mr. Blumenthal:
where were you?) to get Dominion to do the right thing to retrofit
its stacks with scrubbers to filter out pollutants. Dominion has
played Russian roulette with our health for years to arrive at an
impressive bottom line. For shame!
Dominion doesn't give a damn about its community. How do we know?
Dominion promised rural residents of Virginia that it would not
experiment with MOX fuel - mixed oxide fuel containing plutonium,
one of the deadliest manmade substances known - at its North Anna
reactors because of its concern for the health of the community.
On further reflection of the bottom line - the U.S. Government was
practically giving the plutonium away - Dominion flip-flopped. It
told the community its voice carried no weight in the company's
business decisions. If the bottom line dictated MOX fuel, the community
would have to suffer the consequences. So much for promises! (Dominion
once again flip-flopped on the MOX issue and can change its mind
again.)
How concerned is Dominion about the health of its reactor communities?
To assure Connecticut that Dominion is concerned about the health
effects of its reactors on their host communities, Dominion says
it has carried out all health surveys required by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. The sick truth is the NRC doesn't require
any such studies, and so Dominion hasn't done any!
The Millstone reactors routinely emit radioactive waste byproducts
into the air and water of our community. There are also "planned"
releases of greater quantities of such releases.
If you need one good reason why Dominion should be stopped in its
tracks, here's one: a Waterford, Connecticut mother asked Dominion
to agree to notify the mothers of the community in advance of planned
releases of radiation to the air so they can take proper precautions,
such as keep their children inside. James P. O'Hanlon, COO of Dominion,
had no trouble responding to her request. "No!" is what
he said.
" NO" TO DOMINION IS WHAT WE SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
*****
Remember: We are volunteers working to protect YOUR health and safety!
____________________
CCAM has intervened in proceedings before the Department of Environmental
Protection to block the transfer of the Millstone Clean Water Act
permit to Dominion. The permit expired on December 12, 1997. Yet,
the DEP is actually considering transferring the expired permit
to Dominion! The expired permit gives Millstone a license to be
the worst predator of fish in the Northeast. If you tried to transfer
your expired fishing license to catch winter flounder and lobsters,
you would GO TO JAIL! Support CCAM in its legal challenge!
__________
_PRIVATE_§
Millstone Buyer and Breast Cancer
By Michael Steinberg
Dominion Resources, Inc., which bid $1.3 billion for Millstone in
August, owns and operates two nuclear power stations in Virginia.
A 1996 book found that breast cancer death rates increased dramatically
in counties closest to both nuclear power stations after they began
operating. Dominion Resources' two nuclear power stations are Surry
1 & 2, 19 miles northwest of Newport News; and North Anna 1
& 2, 40 miles northwest of Richmond. Surryís two nuclear
reactors started operating in 1972 and 1973. North Annaís
began operating in 1978 and 1980.
In 1996ís The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near
Nuclear Reactors, author Jay Gould found that age adjusted rates
of breast cancer mortality in counties within 100 miles of U.S.
nuclear reactors were statistically significantly higher than those
rates for counties more than 100 miles from nuclear reactors.
Gould and his colleagues at the New York City-based Radiation and
Public Health Project (www.rphp.org) compared breast cancer death
rates for the years 1950-54 to those of the years 1980-84 and 1985-89.
For Surry 1 & 2, in the three closest counties, the rate rose
12% in comparing 1950-54 to 80-84, and 27% in comparing 50-54 to
85-89.
For North Anna 1 & 2, in the 10 counties closest to the reactors,
the increases in comparing those same periods were 57% and "an
extraordinary 73%," according to Gould.
For the United States as a whole, the rate increases in comparing
the same periods were 2% and 1%.
And in New London county the increases were 20% and 26%.
In this unfortunate sense, and this sense only, Dominion Resources
may be a worthy successor to Northeast Utilities at Millstone.
Michael Steinberg is author of 1998ís Millstone and Me: Sex,
Lies and Radiation in Southeastern Connecticut, available at libraries
throughout New London County. His just released book is The End
of Tobacco Road: Life, Love and Sewage in the New South, a rad crime
novel with a strong anti-nuclear theme. To get your copy send him
$10 at 1009 Burch Ave, Durham, NC 27701.
_______________
Health Survey -
CCAM is collecting data from residents and physicians in New London
County. If you are a resident of New London County or you know someone
from New London County who suffers from thyroid cancer, childhood
leukemia, malignant melanoma, reproductive organ disease, immune
system disorder or other malignant cancer, PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION
WITH US. Do not rely on your state, local or federal government
- and certainly not Northeast Utilities - to gather this information.
__________________
Election results -
Multi-term Congressman Sam Gejdenson campaigned on a platform to
keep Millstone open.
Vice President Gore waited until the week before the election to
issue a statement against further development of nuclear power.
Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke campaigned on a platform of safe,
renewable energy.
Always remember: Every Vote Counts! Exercise your right to vote!
_______________
Wind yes! Millstone No!
The New York Times reported on its front page on November 26, 2000
that if the naturally occurring winds that blow across three states
-North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas - were harnessed, their energy
could provide all the electricity needs of the entire United States.
Keep in mind: spent wind does not require long-term, high-security
storage and poses no danger to the public.
____________________
Special Thanks -
Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone extends Highest Public Honors
to the following exemplary citizens who presented testimony to the
Department of Public Utility Control on November 27, 2000. Their
remarks were so unsettling that Northeast Utilities, J.P. Morgan,
Inc., Dominion Resources, Inc., the DPUC Staff and the Office of
Consumer Counsel waived their rights to cross-examination. The citizen-witnesses
were:
*
Joseph H. Besade, of Waterford. (He testified about the workers
- more than seven - who labored at his side in the "dirty"
area of Millstone on pipefitting assignments who have since succumbed
to cancer.)
*
Rosemary Bassilakis, of Haddam. (She testified about the slashing
of the workforce at Millstone, Dominion's lack of financial qualifications
to operate Millstone and deficiencies in projections of costs to
safely decommission Millstone.)
*
Raymond H. Shadis, of Edgecomb, Maine. (He testified about the prospect
for reduction of safety margins under new ownership and the need
for a proper environmental evaluation to determine the extent of
liabilities for present and future owners.)
*
Joseph J. Mangano, of Brooklyn, N.Y. (He testified about Millstone
health effects based on public data, including statistics showing
decreases in infant mortality following reactor closures and New
London County's high thyroid cancer rate.)
*
Dr. Ernest J. Sternglass, of Pittsburgh, PA (He presented testimony
of recent findings of high levels of Strontium-90 in lobsters taken
from the Long Island Sound and studies of high cancers rates among
children in New London County.)
*
(You can read their statements contained in Docket Number 99-09-12REO1
at: _ HYPERLINK http://www.state.ct.us/dpuc/ _¶www.state.ct.us/dpuc/§)
____________________
How YOU Can Help:
*PLEASE SEND DONATIONS TO: CCAM, 13 Water St., Mystic CT 06355.
*Please offer to volunteer!
*Please attend the DPUC Protest on December 6 in New Britain (11
A.M.)!
*Please write letters to the editors supporting efforts to deny
Dominion's bid to buy Millstone and to shut Millstone forever!
*Please call your state, local and federal representatives and demand
that they help shut Millstone forever!
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO MAKE MILLSTONE SAFE:
SHUT IT DOWN!
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