Has DEP Detected More Radioactive Leaks At Oyster Creek?
DEP Quietly Proposes Radioactive Strontium Groundwater Cleanup Standard
[Intro Note: Keep in mind that this is posed as a question, because DEP documents are murky.]
Last week the Christie DEP – not known for strengthening regulatory protections for NJ’s water resources or aggressively cleaning up toxic sites – quietly proposed a new groundwater cleanup standard for the radioactive compound Strontium (not Strontium 90).
The DEP proposal, just released for public comment, states:
In response to a Site Remediation program request in March 2015 for an Interim Ground Water Quality Criterion for strontium (Sr), the Office of Science evaluated the relevant information available from the USEPA and the scientific literature. Based on this review, a draft Interim Specific Ground Water Quality Criterion of 1500 μg/L for strontium is recommended. Derivation of the criterion is described below.
An “Interim Specific Ground Water Quality Criterion” (ISGWQC) is typically developed by DEP to respond to the need to cleanup a specific site, when there is no statewide groundwater standard for a pollutant on the books.
Curiously, the DEP ISGWQC proposal does not state where strontium was detected in groundwater, what facility might be the source of the groundwater contamination, and why the DEP toxic site cleanup program made the request.
Last October, EPA made a determination to develop a drinking water standard for strontium. See EPA fact sheet that explains the various isotopes of strontium.
Japanese officials recently announced the highest levels of strontium 90 ever recorded from the Fukushima plant.
Earlier this year, environmental regulators in Vermont found huge leaks of strontium 90 from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
On February 9, 2015, the Vermont Department of Health issued a press release:
BURLINGTON – Strontium-90 has been detected in samples of ground water collected in August 2014 from monitoring wells within the boundaries of Entergy Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon. These detections were made as part of the Vermont Department of Health’s routine environmental radiological surveillance program.
This is the first time Sr-90 has been found in ground water at Vermont Yankee. The water is not available for consumption, the levels detected are well below the EPA’s safe drinking water threshold, and there is no immediate risk to health.
Sr-90 is a product of nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, and does not occur naturally in the environment. It is found in low levels all around the world. Sr-90 gives off radiation and persists in the environment for a long time. It has a half-life of 29 years, which means this is the time it takes to decay to one-half of its original concentration. Ingesting Sr-90 at high enough levels is linked to bone cancer, cancer of soft tissue near the bone, and leukemia.
As a part of the state’s routine environmental analysis, 21 samples from different ground water monitoring wells were collected during the first week of August. The Health Department sent these samples to its contract laboratory, which had recently entered into an agreement with the State to complete analysis for hard-to-detect radionuclides such as Sr-90. The new contract laboratory employs a well-established testing methodology that detects Sr-90 at a lower level of detection. On November 25, the laboratory reported to the Health Department that four of the samples had levels of Sr-90 above the lower limit of detection. In consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to ensure that these new findings were accurate and not anomalous, the Health Department had portions of the same samples sent to Oak Ridge National Laboratory for independent analysis.
Is NJ DEP monitoring groundwater at Oyster Creek with the new lower detection method used by Vermont to discover the “hard to detect” Strontium 90 problem? If so, what are the results? If not, why not?
The Vermont Yankee plant is a very similar design and just as old as the Oyster Creek NJ nuclear plant, a generation of what I have called Zombie Nukes.
DEP has a history of suppression of whistelblower disclosures about Oyster Creek risks, so it wouldn’t be the first time that they hushed up problems at the site.
Over 5 years ago, DEP discovered that the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant was leaking radioactive tritium to groundwater:
So, has DEP discovered strontium in the groundwater, a far more serious form of radioactive groundwater pollution from Oyster Creek?
If not, what is the source of the strontium and why is DEP issuing a new groundwater standard for it?
Intrepid reporters should call the DEP press office and file OPRA requests and find out!
DEP doesn’t respond to my inquiries.
[End Note: I would’t be surprised if the source of the strontium is naturally occurring – Republicans have a long history of wanting to blame nature for environmental problems, from Reagan’s “trees cause air pollution” toWhitman DEP’s ‘Sunlight causes eutrophication” to “wetlands are a source of water pollution” “Radon is a hazard, but not chemical vapor intrusion” to “sunspots cause climate change”, to ticks, and bears, and coyotes are dangerous, to Bob Martin’s and his DEP Office of Local Government’s claims “sycamore’s are dangerous” and “an invasive species”.
Every one of these claims have been made by Republicans. They hate nature and view it as a risk. They love industry and profits and deregulate them. It’s just how they role.~ ~~ end]