Coalition makes case for Indian Point
By SONDRA WOLFER
New York DAILY NEWS
November 10, 2003

The public-relations battle over Westchester County's Indian Point nuclear plant has shifted, with a coalition of business and labor groups weighing in on the plant owner's side.

Owner Entergy Corp. has faced a rising chorus of calls from elected officials and conservation groups to close the plant, citing a disputed evacuation plan.

Last week, the newly formed Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, comprising 17 organizations in the New York City area - including Entergy and two other New York utilities, the Long Island Power Authority and KeySpan Corp. - came out in support of the plant.

"The recent blackout was a message to business and labor that we need to address New York's energy supplies or we'll be discussing it five years from now in a dark room," said Jerry Kremer, the group's attorney and former chair of the state Assembly's Ways & Means Committee.

The plant, about 35 miles north of the city, can supply power to about 1.6 million homes and is crucial, says the group, because it provides 20%-40% of the region's power supplies.

Congress is expected to vote this week on an energy and water bill, in which Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester) has inserted appropriation for a $1 million federal study to find alternate power sources to the nuclear power facility. An Entergy spokesman dismissed the idea as a waste of time and money.

In July, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recertified disaster plans for evacuating the area around the plant as "adequate," a decision criticized by state and local officials and activists.

BACK TO TOP