WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Energy Company's Environmental Impact Study Criticized (Berlin-AP) _ While Northeast Utilities officials say they are being open about the company's impact on the environment, critics claim a new report by NU omits critical details. In the report, NU tallied pollutants produced from the electricity it generated and purchased, but does not include the amount of waste produced at plants that have been shut down. "Our ultimate goal is to measure and disclose the specific environmental impacts from each kilowatt hour sold," said Michael G. Morris, NU's chairman and chief executive officer. But environmentalists called the $125,000 report, paid for by NU customers, a public relations attempt at "greenwashing." "For them to suggest they have impressive and environmental stewardship is startling, when you consider that their emissions from fossil-fuel plants increased by 99 percent between 1995 and 1997, as well as all the problems they've had at the nuclear power plants," said Steve Gurney, legislative director for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group. The report does not mention how much low-level radioactive waste it was responsible for last year at nuclear power plants that have been shut down _ Connecticut Yankee in Haddam; Millstone 1 in Waterford; Yankee Rowe in Rowe, Mass. and Maine Yankee. It also omits data from the Toxic Release Inventory that the federal Environmental Protection Agency is requiring electrical utilities file this year. NU said it would submit information July 1 for the toxic releases at each of facilities, adding that the company "may rank among the top emitters in the region." In its report, NU used an industry standard, reporting only waste generated by active plants, said Frank Poirot, a company spokesman. The utility may include information on the decommissioned plants next year, he said. NU was responsible for 44.4 kilowatt hours of electricity in 1998, but the total amounts of resulting pollutants were not included in the report _ 160,100 tons of sulfur dioxide; 52,600 tons of nitrogen dioxide; nearly 26.7 million tons of carbon dioxide; and 173,630 tons of coal and fly ash. The prolonged shutdown of its Millstone nuclear power plants forced NU to rely more on oil, gas and coal-burning plants, creating more air pollutants. On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged NU with four license violations for refueling practices at Millstone 1 prior to 1993, but did not impose a fine. A statute of limitations for any civil penalty had expired during the investigation by government agencies including the NRC, the Department of Justice and the FBI. The NRC had previously fined NU $2.1 million, the largest civil penalty in its history, for the same violations. The citation comes five years after whistleblower George Galatis went public with the problem, and on the same day that Millstone 2 was shut down manually by operators after a leak of non-radioactive steam forced the evacuation of the turbine building. Millstone 2 had returned to full power last week. NU spokesman Terrence McIntosh said Tuesday he did not know how long the plant would remain closed. The utility remains under federal investigation by for possible criminal violations of environmental laws at Millstone and the Devon fossil-fuel plant in Milford. Last year, NU reached a $1.2 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general and the Department of Environmental Protection. In its report, the company said it found eight new contaminated sites on company property and cleaned up four, leaving 51 sites for future remediation. Notices of violations from state and federal dropped to seven, compared with 27 two years ago. Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Energy Company's Environmental Impact Study Criticized
(Berlin-AP) _ While Northeast Utilities officials say they are being open about the company's impact on the environment, critics claim a new report by NU omits critical details. In the report, NU tallied pollutants produced from the electricity it generated and purchased, but does not include the amount of waste produced at plants that have been shut down. "Our ultimate goal is to measure and disclose the specific environmental impacts from each kilowatt hour sold," said Michael G. Morris, NU's chairman and chief executive officer. But environmentalists called the $125,000 report, paid for by NU customers, a public relations attempt at "greenwashing."

"For them to suggest they have impressive and environmental stewardship is startling, when you consider that their emissions from fossil-fuel plants increased by 99 percent between 1995 and 1997, as well as all the problems they've had at the nuclear power plants," said Steve Gurney, legislative director for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group.

The report does not mention how much low-level radioactive waste it was responsible for last year at nuclear power plants that have been shut down _ Connecticut Yankee in Haddam; Millstone 1 in Waterford; Yankee Rowe in Rowe, Mass. and Maine Yankee.

It also omits data from the Toxic Release Inventory that the federal Environmental Protection Agency is requiring electrical utilities file this year. NU said it would submit information July 1 for the toxic releases at each of facilities, adding that the company "may rank among the top emitters in the region."

In its report, NU used an industry standard, reporting only waste generated by active plants, said Frank Poirot, a company spokesman. The utility may include information on the decommissioned plants next year, he said.

NU was responsible for 44.4 kilowatt hours of electricity in 1998, but the total amounts of resulting pollutants were not included in the report _ 160,100 tons of sulfur dioxide; 52,600 tons of nitrogen dioxide; nearly 26.7 million tons of carbon dioxide; and 173,630 tons of coal and fly ash.

The prolonged shutdown of its Millstone nuclear power plants forced NU to rely more on oil, gas and coal-burning plants, creating more air pollutants.

On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged NU with four license violations for refueling practices at Millstone 1 prior to 1993, but did not impose a fine.

A statute of limitations for any civil penalty had expired during the investigation by government agencies including the NRC, the Department of Justice and the FBI. The NRC had previously fined NU $2.1 million, the largest civil penalty in its history, for the same violations.

The citation comes five years after whistleblower George Galatis went public with the problem, and on the same day that Millstone 2 was shut down manually by operators after a leak of non-radioactive steam forced the evacuation of the turbine building. Millstone 2 had returned to full power last week.

NU spokesman Terrence McIntosh said Tuesday he did not know how long the plant would remain closed.

The utility remains under federal investigation by for possible criminal violations of environmental laws at Millstone and the Devon fossil-fuel plant in Milford. Last year, NU reached a $1.2 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general and the Department of Environmental Protection.

In its report, the company said it found eight new contaminated sites on company property and cleaned up four, leaving 51 sites for future remediation. Notices of violations from state and federal dropped to seven, compared with 27 two years ago.

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