Mass. denies request to dump radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay [Video]

A request to dump 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay was rejected by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Thursday, according to a Boston-based environmental group.

The wastewater would’ve come from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, which was closed by an energy company called Holtec International in June 2019, and now is being taken apart, the organization, Community Action Works, said in a statement.

Since the company is required to dispose of any remaining nuclear waste, Holtec requested a permit to dump the wastewater into the bay, the advocacy group said.

Last July, state environmental regulators issued a tentative decision rejecting Holtec’s permit, finding that Cape Cod Bay is a protected ocean sanctuary under the state’s Ocean Sanctuaries Act, which prohibits dumping industrial waste into protected state waters.

The decision was then opened to public comment until August 31, 2023, where “Massachusetts residents and groups flooded the MassDEP with thousands of comments, a vast …