The gov. made a statement saying that “The facility reports that the contamination has not migrated offsite and as such does not pose an immediate threat to public health.” “Our first concern is for the health and safety of the residents close to the facility and ensuring the groundwater leak does not pose a threat.”  In a statement, Entergy said the elevated tritium levels are “not in accordance with our standards” but that the amount of radioactivity found at Indian Point remained more than a thousand times below federally permissible limits.  The tritium did not affect any source of drinking water on-site or off-site but this was still a scare that needs to be taken with more precaution.

Taking full precaution, the governor sent a letter to the acting commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and to the commissioner of the State Health Department.  He told them that he wants a full investigation of the issue and I agree with him.  He said his priority was to determine the extent and duration of the radioactive contamination along with what caused it and whether it might affect the environment and public health of nearby communities. On a final note he writes: “We need to identify whether this incident could have been avoided by exercising reasonable care.”  I guess we will have to just wait and find out if this could have been avoided.  In the end, situations like these do occur and its best to be prepared for the worst.  I think that the governor is doing a good job in handling this situation.

References:

Stack, Liam. “New York State to Investigate Radioactive Groundwater at Indian Point.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.