Indian Point Update

(October 24, 2017)

   New bills in Congress to allow towns to tax nuclear plant’s radioactive spent fuel rod (nuclear waste)

“From Buchanan/Cortlandt to Zion, Illinois!”

We strongly support bill# H.R. 5632 currently in the House of Representative and S1903 in the U.S. Senate to allow municipalities to tax (to generate revenue) radioactive spent fuel rods, which is nuclear waste, left on nuclear locations that have closed by the plant’s owners.  The rods are placed in dry cask storage units.

In our situation in the Town of Cortlandt and Village of Buchanan Entergy’s Indian Point’s two operating nuclear plants will close in years 2020 and 2021.  We will be losing an annual $32 million dollars of revenue (a $24 million annual loss to Hendrick Hudson School district,

$4 million to Village of Buchanan, $800,000. to the Town of Cortlandt) and we need to find ways to make up that loss of revenue.  We are working on bringing in new industry, corporations and/or commercial to help offset some of that loss.  However, other means to generate revenue need to be found to assist our community.

Therefore, this bill allowing us to tax this nuclear waste depository (spent fuel rods) not allowed now, is one way to assist us.  I encourage Congress to help us and to pass this bill.

"This bill is not a handout to Zion.  It is a comprehensive bill that provides short term relief and long term solutions for communities that have experienced the negative economic and social impacts of becoming defacto nuclear waste storage facilities.  It will affect communities from Maine to California, from Minnesota to Florida.  The bill will have an immediate impact on communities that have already experienced decommissioning as well as those that are presently involved in the decommissioning process.  Keep in mind that every nuclear power plant in the country will eventually be decommissioned and the host communities will all experience these same social and economic impacts.  This is truly national legislation.” Quote from Mayor Al Hill of Zion, Illinois who has a closed nuclear plant in their community.

Linda D. Puglisi                               Theresa Knickerbocker                    Joseph Hochreiter

Town of Cortlandt Supervisor         Village of Buchanan Mayor            HHSD Superintendent