In late September, U.S. Southern District Judge Kenneth Karas ruled in favor of Holtec, the company dismantling the former Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County, which said state law was constraining their ability to dispose of radioactive materials safely.
In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law dubbed the Save the Hudson Act that made it illegal to discharge radioactive materials into the Hudson River. Holtec argued that its plan to dispose of millions of gallons of tritiated water, a radioactive form of water, complied with Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and regulations. Holtec further claimed that the state law could delay its decommissioning plans until 2041.
At a Saugerties Town Board meeting last week, supervisor Fred Costello called Karas’ decision “pretty disturbing,” and councilman Mike Ivino added that it was a “horrible decision.”
“The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) basically hasn’t done anything to help us out with this,” Ivino said. “And they say that the waste that is being produced is within the reasonable parameters to be discharged into the river. A couple weeks ago, there was a headline about an algae bloom in the river. And if something like that, that’s natural, can be so toxic that they tell us not to put our animals in it, or swim in it, how on earth can this nuclear waste be okay to be put into the river?”
The resolution says that the decision allows Holtec to circumvent alternative methods for wastewater disposal, including onsite storage and evaporation, and “disregards the clear will of New York State and its residents to protect the Hudson River and its surrounding communities.”
Ivino said the memorializing resolution was prepared “in hopes that somebody in Albany is listening, hopefully somebody in the NRC, and then our federal government is listening and can help us out here in Hudson Valley.”
He added that “This truly has no business being in our waterways,” Ivino said. “We have multiple communities throughout the Hudson Valley that use the river for drinking water. It’s actually been a hope of mine for several years now to tap the river as a source of drinking water for the town of Saugerties. So I think it’s important that we fight for what’s right and hopefully not allow this stuff to be dumped into the river.”
Costello said the Hudson River has long been at the center of the local environmental movement, and Judge Karas’ decision might undo much of their hard work.
“To have to fight this battle here in 2025 just flies against all the successes we’ve been able to enjoy,” he said. “And I’m happy to support this hopefully as a meaningful impact and can at least get an appeal or some redirection and planning on how this should be handled.”
Town board members were unclear about whether other communities were planning similar resolutions, but they hoped acting now might inspire others to join in.
“I think sending this document would be a good push to get other communities to make them aware of it and that they can do something by passing a resolution,” said deputy supervisor Leeanne Thornton.
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