Oyster Creek evac won't work, residents tell state
Fear 'complete chaos' if emergency arises at Lacey nuclear plant
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

TOMS RIVER - Willie deCamp sat patiently through several hours of comments about the state's evacuation plans for a radiological emergency at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station.

But near the end of the public hearing at the county administration building here, deCamp had heard enough. He made his way to the microphone.

"So very few can say what everyone knows," he said angrily. "It's completely undoable. Everyone knows that. So you are, in effect, making the world more dangerous by blowing smoke and covering up a hazard."

DeCamp was one of about 80 people who came to the July 24 hearing, which was co-hosted by the New Jersey State Police and state Department of Environmental Protection officials.

The hearings are held annually to determine the adequacy and the effectiveness of the state's Radiological Emergency Response Plan for Oyster Creek on Route 9 south in Lacey Township.

"That plant is a sitting duck and it can't be evacuated," deCamp said. "It adds up to a plan that everybody knows won't work. We can't evacuate this county. It's just going to be complete chaos."

Many questioned whether first responders - like health-care workers, police and other emergency personnel - would respond at all or take care of their own families.

"First responders, with all due respect, have families," said Paul Gunter, reactor oversight director for Beyond Nuclear, a Maryland-based organization that works under the auspices of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute. The group advocates the elimination of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

"Some first responders will go to their families first," Gunter said.

Sgt. Thomas Scardino, assistant supervisor of the State Police Radiological Emergency Response Planning Unit, insisted that first responders would be there in the event of an emergency, much like they were on 9/11 and during the recent forest fire in southern Ocean County.

"They will continue to do their jobs," Scardino said. "They are dedicated folks. We make sure they are aware of the health risks. We have dose limits. They are aware of the risks involved."

The evacuation plan is designed to handle the population living within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ). The public may be asked to evacuate or "shelter in" their homes, depending upon the type of emergency, according to the state's "Community Emergency Planning Information" booklet.

Many said Route 9 north, Route 72 west and the causeway that connects Long Beach Island to the mainland could not handle the traffic or a panicked population.

Ocean County's population stands at roughly 558,000 residents, said Gregory Auriemma, chairman of the Ocean County Sierra Club.

"On a nice summer weekend, that population expands to about 1 million," he said. "Any car lane holds about 1,500 cars per hour. It defies credibility to believe you can possibly evacuate. You can't squeeze a Hummer into a sardine can. You just can't do it."

The public had an opportunity to see how the evacuation plan doesn't work during the recent forest fires in the southern portion of the county, Barnegat resident Mary Ann Clemente said.

"All traffic came to a standstill," she said. "And I'm from New York, and I know gridlock. This was beyond belief. There was no movement whatsoever."

There were no fatalities from the fire, Scardino said.

"The smoke was intense," he said. "It did prevent a lot of vehicles from moving. The Garden State Parkway was shut down for a brief period of time."

"It was closed more than once," Clemente said.

Only three elected officials, all members of the Berkeley Township Council, attended the meeting.

"How many elected officials are here this evening?" Clemente said. "Are there any? I think the apathy we all have in our communities is shameful. Barnegat is only four miles from the plant."

Brick resident Paula Gotsch suggested that groups that oppose Oyster Creek's relicensing be invited to participate in radiological emergency response drills.

"We are grownups," she said. "We are not babies. We have a right to know. We should be included when you are having these table exercises. As long as it's a secret plan, we feel patronized. This is our lives and our homes."

Gotsch told the board she was impressed by the amount of work they did.

"You can work as hard as you want," she said. "We do not think this plan will work. We are not reassured by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). We've been let down too many times. It's going to be horrendous if it happens. There is nothing to be reassured about. Thank you for your time."

Brick resident Jeffrey Brown asked under what circumstances would the state advise residents to "shelter in" their homes, rather than evacuate.

"The preferred method is to evacuate," said Nick DePierro, supervisor of the DEP's Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Section.

Residents would be advised to stay in their homes if the plant was going to do a short release of radiation, or during inclement weather, such as a hurricane or severe snowstorm, he said.

"It's a protective action, but it's not the preferred action," he said.

Brick resident Janet Tauro said the evacuation plan assumes that children will be either in school or at home in the event of a radiological emergency at Oyster Creek.

"There is no evacuation plan at a dance school, no evacuation plan on a Little League field," she said. "I'd really like an answer to that. They just don't come home from school and play in the front yard anymore."

Joan Rubin, Pine Beach, asked why there were no air quality monitoring stations in heavily populated towns like Brick and Toms River that are outside the 10-mile EPZ.

"If there can be an air-monitoring station in Brendan Byrne State Park, why can't there be one in Brick or Toms River?" she asked.

The DEP's Bureau of Nuclear Engineering maintains a network of air-sampling locations around Oyster Creek, and a background air-sampling location at the Brendan T. Byrne State Park in New Lisbon. The New Lisbon station is over 20 miles from Oyster Creek, according to the DEP's Web site.

Air samples are taken biweekly at all locations to measure gross beta activity, including strontium-90.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission established the 10-mile zone, DePierro said.

"It does not preclude evacuation beyond 10 miles," he said.

Theresa Kotsalakis, Barnegat, runs an Easter Seals day program for 50 handicapped adults in Lacey Township, just two miles from Oyster Creek.

"We have our own evacuation plans," she said. "They are not comprehensive. In a real emergency, there is no way we are going to be able to get all these handicapped people out of our building. Most of my families haven't a clue. They don't know where to go, who to contact."

Scardino told Kotsalakis she should contact Lacey Township's Office of Emergency Management to get the names of the people she cares for listed with OEM.

"We need a list of them to move mobility-impaired people to a sister facility listed with OEM," he said.

Only one person at the nearly three-hour meeting had anything positive to say about Oyster Creek or the evacuation plans.

That was Edward Stroup, president and business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 1289.

Stroup said he had heard a lot of people "smearing" first responders, the military and the National Guard.

"Somehow people think that should something happen at Oyster Creek, everybody is going to run away," he said. "No matter what the emergency is, they are going to respond and help and do the right thing."

Those who questioned first responders have "an agenda," Stroup said.

"It's an agenda and the agenda is to close Oyster Creek," he said.