For Immediate Release, February 7, 2011

Judges Rule in Favor of Citizen Interveners:
Full Hearing Required To Determine Magnitude of Environmental Harm from Proposed Levy County Nuclear Plant Construction and Water Use.

A panel of three judges, forming an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB), issued three rulings against Progress Energy Florida (PEF) last week on PEF's proposed Levy County nuclear plant with two new nuclear power reactors. The rulings rejected PEF's multiple attempts to squelch a full hearing of the environmental harm from constructing and operating the proposed new nuclear reactors in the floodplain of Florida's Nature Coast. The NRC staff, also a party in the proceeding, argued that meeting State of Florida "conditions" for approval was sufficient to provide overall protection of water resources.

Water is the key issue to the question of whether construction and operation of these proposed nuclear power reactors approximately 10 miles inland from the existing Crystal River nuclear reactor on the Gulf Coast of Central Florida would have an "acceptable" level of environmental impact on the Nature Coast. "The basis of PEF's claim was that by changing its plan and relocating groundwater wells to an adjacent parcel 'off the reactor site' all groundwater impacts on the site -- and all related environmental impacts disappeared," explains Cara Campbell, Chair of the Ecology Party and one of the leaders in the hydroecological part of the intervention.

The case began in February 2009 when The Ecology Party of Florida, Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)*, and the Green Party of Florida filed a Petition to Intervene in the federal licensing procedure and requested a hearing. Among the issues raised were the adverse impacts associated with authorized extraction of more than 5 million gallons of water daily and other significant alterations of the Floridan Aquifer system that would occur during constructing and operation of the proposed new nuclear facility.

"The scientific body of knowledge supports our conclusion that construction and operation of this proposed nuclear power plant in the floodplains of Levy County would result in irreversible damage to the aquifer system and other water resources. These water resources are essential for maintaining the Nature Coast, inland and coastal springs, streams, wetlands and upland habitat which are critical for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species," explains Dr. Sydney Bacchus, Hydroecologist with more than 30 years of experience in these types of environmental impacts. "Any energy option that results in such catastrophic environmental impacts can't be justified as 'renewable' energy," Bacchus concludes.

"The surrounding central and south Florida population also relies on these water resources," adds Campbell. "The three issues admitted for hearing by the judges cover a wide array of water-related environmental impacts as well as two radioactive waste complaints. PEF's efforts to convince the judges to dismiss all of the water issues without a hearing after the NRC's recent release of its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) failed," Campbell explains. "We were very pleased by the rulings."

"With these latest rulings the judges (in the three separate orders) found that PEF and the NRC had failed to show that the deficiencies had been corrected as described in the DEIS, so these issues will require a full hearing, currently scheduled for 2012," Campbell stated. "The judges affirmed that we have valid concerns that have not been addressed.

"This is a major victory for the Interveners and the Nature Coast. I have never seen such crystal clear water – whole rivers literally pouring out of countless karst vents from inside the earth!" said Mary Olson, Southeast Regional Coordinator for NIRS, lead intervener, in charge of the radioactive waste part of the intervention . "We have no idea how the merger with Duke Energy will affect this proposed project, but I recommend Florida residents watch this issue closely."

The original Petition and the three new rulings are posted at: http://www.nirs.org/nukerelapse/levy/levyhome.htm

Press Inquiries: Cara Campbell (954-525-4522) – chair@ecologyparty.org

*NIRS

6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340,

Takoma Park, MD 20912

www.nirs.org

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For Immediate Release, December 29, 2010

Progress Energy Florida Ordered to Produce Model Data for Proposed Nuclear Facility

In a ruling that could potentially affect every proposed nuclear facility in the country, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) has ordered Progress Energy Florida (PEF) to produce modeling data regarding the ecological impact of their proposed nuclear power plant in rural Levy County. The facility would withdraw up to 5.58 million gallons of water per day from the Floridan aquifer system.

This ASLB order came in response to a motion filed by the Ecology Party of Florida and Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS),* who claimed that wetlands, streams, springs, and estuaries in the surrounding area, and the federally listed species that rely on these natural resources, would be irreparably harmed by the withdrawal of such huge amounts of water from the aquifer. The aquifer also provides most of the water used by homes and businesses in the Levy County vicinity.

The ASLB is the independent body within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that issues decisions for the NRC when there is a challenge to proposed licensing or enforcement actions. The ASLB granted intervener status in the PEF proceeding to NIRS and the Ecology Party.

A Fortune 500 power generation company headquartered in Raleigh NC, PEF submitted a Combined License application on July 30, 2008, seeking permission to construct and operate two new nuclear reactors in Levy County. Its application claimed that simulation models developed by PEF’s consultants show that the environmental impacts of the proposed nuclear reactors would be “small.” The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by NRC staff used PEF’s claim to reach the same conclusion, without reviewing the model data.

“This is an extremely important ruling,” said Mary Olson, NIRS Southeast Coordinator. “Progress Energy and the NRC relied on these models to determine the environmental impact of constructing a nuclear facility and to justify claims of minimal environmental impacts. The data from these models must be independently reviewed, or the results cannot be verified.”
Cara Campbell, Ecology Party Chair, defended the motion before the ASLB in Washington D.C. at the November 17 hearing and concurs. “The ASLB ruled that withholding the model data merely because the work was done by Progress Energy’s subcontractors was unacceptable. This is a critical issue, since corporations could insulate themselves from legal responsibility by delegating tasks to other companies not directly involved in the licensing process. The ruling could potentially affect every energy corporation considering construction of nuclear facilities.”
Progress Energy was given 20 days to coordinate the release of the data to the Interveners who will then have their experts review it for inadequacies. The ASLB must now rule on several other motions, including an attempt by Progress to have the environmental contention thrown out and a revised contention submitted to reflect the information contained in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.    Press Inquiries: Contact: Cara Campbell – 954-525-4522, chair@ecologyparty.org

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October 29, 2010

Friends & Fellow Environmentalists:

The Ecology Party of Florida is in the midst of a fight against Progress Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff for the environment in Levy County and the state of Florida. In April, 2009 the Ecology Party and Nuclear Information Resource Service's (NIRS) contentions against the first "Greenfield" site in the new wave of nuclear reactors, were admitted by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (other pending license applications will add reactors to an existing site or complete a previously started nuke). NIRS had submitted nuclear waste contentions and the Ecology Party submitted a multi-part contention on the cumulative hydroecology impacts not considered adequately in the application. These include dewatering beautiful springs, destroying/degrading habitat for endangered species (including manatees), detrimental effects on the estuary and aquifer (they will become more saline as a result of water consumption) and filling in wetlands.

The Ecology Party and NIRS representatives (essentially 4 people) are fighting Progress Energy and their huge legal firm, Pillsbury Law. Pillsbury appealed the admission of our contentions to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission but the Ecology Party's entire contention, which NIRS has collaborated on, and part of NIRS' waste contention fortunately survived intact. Ours is an unprecedentedly broad environmental impact contention, the likes of which NRC and Pillsbury lawyers have never seen and we have gone farther than we could have dreamed.

We are in desperate need of money to pay additional experts to bolster our contention for up-coming evidentiary hearings as well as to fund travel expenses and expert testimony needed at oral arguments on November 17, at the NRC in Rockville, MD. These oral arguments are exciting since the focus will be our Motion to Compel Progress Energy to give us access to groundwater modeling files they are withholding from our scrutiny and which we believe will strongly support our contention if properly reviewed by independent experts (for whom we will also need money).

Please help us fight the good fight. Everyone who looks at it sees how important this case is. We promise you your money will be used wisely and frugally and will deliver far more than it usually would. All our legal work has been done pro se with pro bono legal advice and happily all our experts are working on a greatly reduced scale so we are getting work that would normally cost ten times what we are paying. Since we had no idea, however, that we would get this far, we are having to raise even a modest budget midstream.

Money can be donated to the Ecology Party by making a cheque out to Ecology Party Non-Electoral and mailing to 

Ecology Party
641 SW 6 Ave
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315

Although donations to us are not tax-deductible, if you would like to take a tax deduction, please use the same address but instead make your cheque out to NIRS and write Contention 4 in the memo line. The Ecology Party will then be able to keep track of the money we raise as we send it on.

Thank you for your help!

Cara Campbell,
Chair, Ecology Party of Florida
www.ecologyparty.org
954 525-4522

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January 12, 2010

The Ecology Party of Florida has submitted environmental contentions at the Federal level against the two new nuclear reactors Progress Energy wants to build in Levy County. It is a huge accomplishment that much of our comprehensive contention of environmental harm has been accepted by the Atomic Safety & Licensing Board  (ASLB) of the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). Ours is now the broadest contention the opposition has ever had to face! We are proceeding with no lawyer, pro se, in concert with Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and so far, so good.

Now we desperately need to raise money to further our case. We need funding for critical reviews and supporting scientific evidence from experts to show why and how hydrologic and environmental documents Progress Energy has
produced are inaccurate and otherwise flawed.  We expect, and have been advised, that this aspect of our challenge will be vital to undermine the case Progress is attempting to make. We would appreciate any donation, no
matter how small. Of course, large donations will get us to our required sum of $6,000 more quickly.

Cheques can be made out to "Ecology Party Non-Electoral" and mailed to:

641 SW 6 Ave
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33315

If you need to donate to a 501c3 (non-profit) you may make your cheque out to NIRS, but please mail it to the above address so we can keep track of the funds ear-marked for the Levy Intervention before we forward them.

Thank you & please know that your help is greatly appreciated and your hard-earned money will be wisely spent.

Cara Campbell, Chair
Ecology Party of Florida

August 8, 2009

July 9, 2009

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Admits Ecology Party Contentions to Levy Nukes

In a ruling released July 8, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) allowed several environmental contentions to be admitted in the process to construct and operate two new nuclear reactors on wetlands in rural Levy County. By allowing the contentions, the ASLB ensured that environmental issues ignored by Progress Energy Florida, the utility seeking the new reactors, must be addressed during the lengthy licensing process.

The contentions admitted deal with impacts on wetlands, waterways, and habitat, and with the proposed disposal process for hazardous nuclear waste. The Ecology Party spearheaded the contentions dealing with water and habitat impacts, while the Nuclear Information Resource Services addressed waste disposal.

Besides requiring significant additional information on the environmental impact of the Levy plant, the ASLB also made several rulings which may impact the future of other power plant projects.

In one ruling the ASLB rejected the proposition that the Environmental Report can properly exclude any environmental impact that is regulated by another Federal or State entity or that, because NRC has no jurisdiction to regulate an environmental impact, it can be excluded, per se, from the ER. The ASLB wrote “Despite the clarity of the law on this point, the opponents of contention admissibility keep repeating this pernicious canard”.

In another ruling, the ASLB states “It appears to us that some of Petitioners’ allegations represent genuine disagreements concerning qualitative judgments or conclusory statements in the ER (e.g., that the impacts will be SMALL, or negligible, or not excessive, or that best management practices automatically assure that no environmental impacts occur). [The] applicant, as the proponent of the license, bears the burden of proof.”

Cara Campbell, Chair of the Ecology Party, is pleased with the results. “ We presented hundreds of pages of contentions and supporting documentation, but only a few were accepted by the ASLB. This shows how difficult it is to square off against huge corporations. The fact that the Nuclear Regulatory commission staff supported the industry on every single point should be a warning flag to all Americans about the supposed independence of governmental organizations.”

Gary Hecker, Treasurer of the Ecology Party, agrees. “This is a huge victory for the environment and American citizens. We aren’t lawyers, and didn’t use one. But this shows that determined, dedicated people can still make a difference.”

CONTACTS: Cara Campbell, Chair, Ecology Party of Florida

954-525-4522

chair@ecologyparty.org

April 26, 2009

February 1, 2009