Yesterday (7/28/15), the state’s Joint Committee on Public Health held a hearing at the State House on several bills under their consideration including five nuclear safety-related bills. We attended the hearing and provided verbal testimony in support of the bills.
H.1898/H.2031 are related to expanding the radius for nuclear emergency planning, H.1899/H.2030 are related to radiological monitoring, and H.2020 is related to establishing education zones around nuclear plants.
Jones River Watershed Association’s Cape Cod Bay Watch program also submitted written testimony to the Committee in support of the bills. In our testimony, we state, “As the severity of climate-related changes increases over time, so does the risk of an accident at Pilgrim. If there was ever a time for increased efforts by our state to protect public safety from this increasing risk, it is now. Bills H.1898/H.2031, H.1899/H.2030, and H.2020 address public safety in light of these inevitable climate-induced risks at Pilgrim.”
The Committee will soon decide whether to report these bills out favorably – they still need to be passed by the House and Senate, and eventually signed into law by the Governor. There’s still a long road ahead, but the bills have certainly been picking up steam along the way.
If you want to help move these important safety bills along, please contact your State Senators/Representatives and ask them to please support the bills. Learn how here →
Read Jones River Watershed Assoc. Testimony →
Read Cape Downwinders Testimony →
Read Pilgrim Watch & Duxbury Nuclear Matters Committee Testimony →
Leave a Reply