Environmental groups ask Justice Dept. to launch criminal probe of Vermont Yankee officials

Green groups call for federal probe of Vt. Yankee

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Two environmental groups on Friday asked the U.S. Justice Department to launch a criminal probe of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant officials, saying they had provided false information under oath and operated the plant with “careless disregard” of the potential for leaking radioactive substances.

Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-wide environmental group, and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group took aim at Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee and Entergy Nuclear Operations, two subsidiaries of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. that operate the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon.

In a letter sent to the Justice Department, the groups accused the company of “providing false information under oath, and operating the Vermont Yankee facility with careless disregard that has led to contamination of ground and surface waters with radiologic substances.” The letter was signed by CLF Vermont Director Christopher Kilian and VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns.

Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith did not immediately comment on the letter. Tristram Coffin, the U.S. attorney for Vermont, confirmed he had received a copy of it but said he could not comment further.

Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, said in an e-mail, “We have received the letter and are reviewing it.”

On Jan. 7, Vermont Yankee announced it was leaking tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has been linked to cancer if ingested in large amounts, into groundwater on the reactor site. The following week, it was revealed that Vermont Yankee officials had misled state regulators and lawmakers by saying the plant did not have the sort of underground piping that could carry tritium.

The statements to regulators were under oath. State Attorney General William Sorrell has launched a criminal investigation into whether senior Vermont Yankee officials committed the crime of false swearing when they made those statements.

In a letter to Gov. Jim Douglas and legislative leaders, dated Wednesday and made public by Sorrell on Friday, the attorney general said he and his staff were getting good cooperation from Entergy in the investigation. He said it may be several months before the probe is complete.

Both VLF and VPIRG have been critical of Vermont Yankee in the past, with the research group as one of its most frequent and ardent critics. The groups’ letter came at a time of deep trouble for the reactor in Vermont’s southeast corner.

The state Senate is expected to vote next week to block Vermont Yankee from completing hearings before the state Public Service Board that could allow the plant to operate for 20 years past its scheduled license expiration in March 2012.

CLF and VPIRG’s letter appeared aimed in part at ratcheting up the stakes for Vermont Yankee by alleging it misled not only state regulators but also the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well. The letter said that in Vermont Yankee’s application for a federal license renewal, it falsely stated that questions about underground pipes were “not applicable” to Vermont Yankee.

Also Friday, a New Hampshire congressman, Paul Hodes, called for the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to subpoena Vermont Yankee documents to pursue a report that a whistleblower had told a Vermont legislative consultant about a leak of radioactivity at Vermont Yankee two years ago.

At the plant in Vernon, engineers and technicians continued the difficult work of excavating an area where it was believed the tritium leak was likely originating.