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Yet Another Round Of Opinions Aired On Oyster Creek
By Bill McLaughlin
Two meetings to elicit public comments in regard to a lawsuit brought by six groups opposing the recertification of Oyster Creek Generating Station recently convened in the county administration building.
As often happens when opponents and proponents meet to discuss this issue, acrimony soon followed.
Ed Stroup, a retired Oyster Creek worker, rose to speak in favor of the nuclear plant's continued operation, but Barnegat attorney Michelle Donato challenged his credentials.
Donato said that Stroup could not be unbiased in his comments because of his work history and should be excluded from testifying.
Stroup countered, "She has been involved every step of the way as I have. Her agenda is to close the plant. She was afforded the right to speak. Why can't I?"
His argument won out. Stroup was allowed to speak and afterward said he worked at the plant for 22 years, until 2000, on the maintenance staff and saw every facet of the operation, including repairs. He said the workforce is highly trained, motivated and more than capable of running the plant safely.
While Stroup and others testified in favor of keeping the AmerGen-managed plant on line, the majority speaking at the meting were opposed. Some complained that testimony was restricted.
Those restrictions, however, came with legal reasons. Opponents of the plant's continued operation like Berkeley resident Edith Gbur of Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch were not allowed to testify because their organization is a party to a lawsuit to be heard in September before the same three state administrative law judges.
The exact purpose of this hearing was lost on many in the audience. Mary Ann Clemente, Barnegat, asked at the end of the two-hour session, "What is the purpose of us being here today?"
Chief Administrative Judge E. Roy Hawkens, who was joined on the bench by Dr. Paul Abramson and Dr. Anthony J. Baratta, both administrative judges, announced at the outset, the panel would offer a written decision on the question of whether the dry well shell's condition is adequate for an extended period of operation.
Next year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will decide when the plant will be granted a 20-year extension or be retired. Oyster Creek was commissioned nearly 40 years ago and is the oldest functioning nuclear power plant in the United States.
Hawkens told the audience the panel's decision can be appealed to the state administrative appeals court and ultimately, to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
From the beginning, Hawkens underscored that statements made at the hearing would not be part of the evidentiary record in the September trial.
Hawkens explained that the panel was not beholden to the NRC and had a "very narrow" scope in their deliberations.
"We want to allow public citizens to make your comments," he said. "We don't make policy."
The discourse was largely civil, but there were a couple of times when the temperature rose in the room.
There was also testimony from three witnesses who said they had retired and moved to within 10 miles of the nuclear power plant and objected to its location.
Then, there was the testimony from a retired engineer who seemed to fall on both sides of the question. He lives within one mile of the nuclear plant and said he has no objection to its continuing operation but one: His boat is high and dry, kept from the south branch of the inlet because of dredging in the area.
A Long Beach Island man, Dan Lundy, said he opposed the plant because he had little faith in the government bureaucracy.
"We've had two incidents here in recent days," Lundy said. "We had beach replenishment and they found 1,000 pieces of ordinance (in the sand). And a U.S. Air Force test put 4,000 acres of the Pinelands on fire."
David McKeon, head of the county planning board, spoke on behalf of the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders when he said security from terrorist attacks and storage of spent fuel cells are concerns that must be reconciled.
McKeon said the board would not take a public position on either supporting or opposing recertification of the plant.
As the hearings were going on, Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, was touring the Oyster Creek plant and offered his support for nuclear energy.
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