The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant is located on the Jersey Shore's Barnegat Bay, 1 of 28 designated National Ocean Estuaries. It is the oldest commercial operating nuclear power plant in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the world.

Concerned with the disastrous effects that this plant has on the eco-system and the economic health of the Jersey Shore (2nd largest economic engine in the state), the New Jersey Environmental Federation has been on the forefront of a coalition of activists groups fighting the relicensing of the aging plant, exposing some of its egregious environment violations, and working for a clean energy future.

Every day, the plant sucks 1.7 billion gallons of water from the Forked River, heats it up and then spits it out into Oyster Creek at the mouth of Barnegat Bay. This antiquated method of cooling the reactor not only drains huge volumes of water from the Bay but kills marine and aquatic life. Operation of the plant has contributed to the collapse of the Bay's shrimp, oyster and scallop fishing industries.

The current "cooling system" is in direct violation of the federal Clean Water Act which requires the use of the "best available technologies (BAT)" or cooling towers. None of New Jersey's 4 nuclear facilities have closed loop cooling systems or towers.

Progress Made!

Last year, our coalition influenced the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to recommend that the plant be retrofitted with cooling towers in order to lessen the damaging impacts on the bay. As part of our community education campaign, NJ Environmental Federation community organizers knocked on over 50,000 doors and collected more than 20,000 letters on this issue alone.

Exelon Corp, the owner of the plant, has continuously threatened that it will close the plant if cooling towers are required to be installed.

To make matters worse, in July 2010, it was discovered that 180,000 gallons of radioactive water had seeped into the shallow Cape May aquifer and the deeper Cohansey Aquifer, a source of drinking water for 1 million people in southern New Jersey. This leak occurred just nine days after the 20 year license renewal was granted in 2009, but had not been reported or acted upon for 18 months. Some of the tritium contamination measured more than 50 times the safe-drinking level for radiation.

Working with the NJDEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) through the Federal Spill Act, our coalition has forced the Exelon Corp to increase its efforts to remove the tritium-contaminated ground water. In late October, Exelon installed an 8-inch diameter pump to transport the contaminated water to the cooling water intake, where it will be diluted with the 115,000 gallons to 450,000 gallons that flow in every minute from the canal. This canal pulls in Barnegat Bay water via the South Branch of the Forked River.

Since the plants relicensing, NJ Environmental Federation, Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety (GRAMMES) and additional coalition partners have filed legal appeals to the NRC on the inadequacy of the industry-controlled relicensing procedures that have resulted in "cut and paste" NRC permits similar to the duplication of Gulf oil rig contingency plans.

The NRC's decision to relicense the 40-year-old Oyster Creek plant for another 20 years is now in federal appeals court and is expected to be heard in January of 2011.

With an uncertain economic future ahead, NJ Environmental Federation advocates that our limited public and private resources be spent seeking the power of the sun, wind, and water, as well as energy conservation and efficiency measures. They have the greater capacity to create job diversity, sustainable communities and safeguarded health and environment for generations to come.

For more information, contact Peggi Sturmfels, Program Organizer, at 732-280-8988 or psturmfels@cleanwater.org