Massachusetts blocks Holtec from discharging Pilgrim water

In 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) denied Holtec International's application to release treated water into Cape Cod Bay from the Pilgrim nuclear power plant site as decommissioning work continues.

Holtec appealed that decision, and on Tuesday, MassDEP announced that it has dismissed the appeal, leaving Holtec-for now-with fewer options for how to deal with the up to 1.1 million gallons of water it seeks to discharge.

The context: Pilgrim sits on Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, Mass. It was shut down in May 2019, and ownership transferred from Entergy to Holtec for decontamination and decommissioning a few months later. At the time, Holtec planned to complete its work at the site within eight years.

In 2021, the company announced that it had placed the last of the plant's fuel in dry storage. By 2022, all high-level waste was in storage. The ongoing decommissioning progress hit a significant roadblock in February 2024, however, when MassDEP denied Holtec's request to discharge the plant's treated wastewater into Cape Code Bay. MassDEP's decision was made against the backdrop of significant public outcry regarding Holtec's proposal.

The appeal: Holtec appealed MassDEP's decision on the grounds of jurisdictional authority and technical veracity. To the former point, the company argued that the Atomic Energy Act bars MassDEP from entirely blocking the discharge of treated water from a nuclear power plant.

To the latter point, Holtec essentially rejected MassDEP's presupposition that the water at issue is "waste," as defined by the relevant law-in this case, the state's Ocean Sanctuaries Act, which defines Cape Cod Bay as an ocean sanctuary subject to special environmental protections. One of those protections is a prohibition on "dumping or discharge of commercial, municipal, domestic or industrial wastes."

The act defines wastes as "any unwanted, discarded, or environmentally harmful solid, liquid, or gaseous materials resulting from commercial, municipal, domestic, or industrial activities."

Holtec argued that Pilgrim's water does not fit into this definition, in that "the treated water to be discharged is not environmentally harmful," the company said. The appeal further emphasized that the concentrations of the detectable pollutants in the released water would be both well within federal standards and actually "well below the concentrations detectable in the receiving waters."

Nonetheless, on Tuesday, MassDEP announced that it has dismissed Holtec's appeal and upheld its 2024 determination denying the company's request to discharge the water at Pilgrim.

Next steps: The future of Pilgrim's decommissioning is now somewhat uncertain. As Patrick O'Brien, director of government affairs and communications for Holtec, told Boston NPR station WBUR, the yearslong permitting process has already delayed the cleanup schedule, and the new decision may impose a further delay.

O'Brien added that the company is "reviewing the finalized denial and looking at what options may remain available." MassDEP said its final decision can be appealed to the state's Superior Court. Another solution advocated for by some in the state is shipping the water to an out-of-state facility.

Depending on the next steps Holtec takes, this regulatory back-and-forth ultimately may become moot. As deliberations continue, the water at the site is slowly evaporating. However, the rate of evaporation at the site has been variable and difficult to calculate thus far, and it is currently unclear how many years it would take for the remaining water at the site to evaporate.