Douglas wants lawmakers to put off vote on Yankee
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Gov. James Douglas Wednesday said lawmakers should put off any vote on Vermont Yankee this year. Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus |
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By DANIEL BARLOW VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: January 28, 2010
MONTPELIER — In a sudden policy switch, Gov. James Douglas said Wednesday that lawmakers should not vote on the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant this year.
“I am calling for a timeout,” Douglas said.
The governor, a strong supporter of Vermont Yankee, said plant owner Entergy should be given additional time to rebuild its credibility with Vermonters after revelations in recent weeks that top executives may have misled state officials.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, state officials and Attorney General William Sorrell are investigating whether Entergy lied under oath about the existence of underground radioactive pipes that now may be leaking the dangerous isotope tritium into nearby groundwater.
Douglas also called on Entergy to replace its management — although he would not say who should be fired from the company — and announced that hearings on the company's plans to sell Vermont Yankee to a spin-off company should be halted until the investigations are complete.
“When we can again say with resolute clarity that we can depend on the management of the plant and ensure public health and safety, only then can we move forward with the consideration of the plant's long-term future,” Douglas said in a hastily called afternoon press conference at the Statehouse.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams issued a statement Wednesday evening, saying it was disappointed by Douglas' announcement.
“We remain committed to cooperate in every way possible with the state's own inquiries,” Williams wrote in an e-mail to Vermont media.
“We remain convinced that it is in the best interest of Vermonters and the state's economic and energy future that this plant keep operating and have its license renewed.”
Williams said the company was conducting what it called a “thorough, ongoing comprehensive internal investigation,” led by an outside counsel.
The review is designed to “get to the bottom of how and why the company provided conflicting information to state officials about the extent of underground piping.”
Williams said that despite the continuing leak the tritium level poses no risk to public health and safety.
“No elevated tritium levels have been found in any drinking water well samples,” he wrote.
Douglas' change in position comes one day after the Democratic leaders of the Vermont Legislature called on his administration to pull its support for Entergy's plans to form a new corporation, Enexus, and sell it Vermont Yankee and five other nuclear power plants.
At a press conference assembled moments after the end of Douglas' press conference, House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said they appreciate that the governor shares their concerns about allegations that Entergy misled the state.
But they also thought his statement was too little, too late.
“I don't think firing people and bringing in some new management will really change Vermonters lack of trust in a company that is right now leaking radioactive isotopes into the environment,” said Shumlin, a gubernatorial candidate.
Shumlin and Smith would not say if the Legislature will follow the governor's advice and not vote this year. No vote has been scheduled and the two Democrats said they are focused on these investigations and finding the cause of the tritium leak at Vermont Yankee.
“Our primary concern right now is stopping these leaks,” Smith said.
Wednesday's announcement was a sudden — and unexplained — change in policy for Douglas, who has long held that lawmakers should either vote on Vermont Yankee's continued operation now or get out of the way and allow the Public Service Board to make a decision.
Just six days before Wednesday's press conference, Douglas told reporters he wanted the Legislature to vote, although he joked that he would prefer it not happen that week because they would be likely to vote against 20 more years of operation for Vermont Yankee.
Douglas struggled Wednesday to explain what changed in the last week to alter his stance. After repeated questions on that point from reporters, he only said, “I would have preferred more action by now.”
Bob Stannard, a lobbyist for the anti-nuclear group Citizens Action Network, said Douglas' call for a delay was a “last-ditch effort to save Vermont Yankee.”
Stannard said the governor knows that if lawmakers vote on continued operation this year, then the Vernon reactor would close as scheduled in early 2012.
“The idea that they can replace some management there and then everything will be fine is ridiculous,” Stannard said. “A zebra can't change its stripes.”
James Moore, the clean energy advocate for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, said the last thing Vermonters want is Entergy's corporate offices in Louisiana to send more executives to run a Vermont business.
“Vermont Yankee doesn't seem to understand what the problem is,” Moore said. “The fact is this is a plant that is too old to be safe and reliable.”
Legislative Republicans, who have also called on Democrats to schedule a Vermont Yankee vote this year, said in a statement released early Wednesday evening that they support Douglas' new position.
“Given the recent developments we must put the brakes on at the state level and urge Entergy Nuclear to replace its current management team and revisit its current policies so that confidence can be restored,” said Rep. Patty O'Donnell, a Republican representing the town of Vernon, where the reactor is lo
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