1 1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 2 DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 3 BUREAU OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING 4 ------------------------------x 5 RE: THE NEW JERSEY : PUBLIC HEARING 6 RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY : 7 RESPONSE PLAN FOR NUCLEAR : 8 POWER PLANTS : 9 ------------------------------x 10 11 LOCATION: Woodland Country Day School 12 1216 Roadstown Road 13 Bridgeton, New Jersey 14 DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 2013 15 TIME: 7:00 p.m. to 7:25 p.m. 16 17 18 19 GUY J. RENZI & ASSOCIATES 20 CERTIFIED COURT REPORTERS & VIDEOGRAPHERS 21 GOLDEN CREST CORPORATE CENTER 22 2277 STATE HIGHWAY #33, SUITE 410 23 TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08690 24 TEL: (609) 989-9199 TOLL FREE: (800) 368-7652 25 www.renziassociates.com 2 1 Computer-aided transcript of the 2 public hearing, taken stenographically in the 3 above-entitled matter before LISA C. BRADLEY, a 4 Certified Court Reporter, License #30XI00228700, and 5 Notary Public of the State of New Jersey, at 6 Woodland Country Day School, 1216 Roadstown Road 7 Bridgeton, New Jersey, on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 8 commencing at 7:00 p.m. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 B E F O R E: 2 3 JERRY HUMPHREYS, Hearing Officer 4 JON CHRISTIANSEN 5 PATRICK MULLIGAN 6 JEFFREY WINEGAR 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 I N D E X 2 SPEAKERS PAGE 3 Barbara Stratton 15 4 5 6 7 8 9 E X H I B I T S 10 11 ID DESCRIPTION PAGE 12 13 (NO EXHIBITS WERE MARKED.) 14 15 16 R E Q U E S T S 17 18 (NO FORMAL REQUESTS WERE MADE.) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 1 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Good 2 evening. My name is Jerry Humphreys. I'm an 3 engineer in the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering within 4 the New Jersey Department of Environmental 5 Protection. I will be the Hearing Officer this 6 evening. 7 The purpose of is to receive 8 testimony, comments, and questions regarding the 9 adequacy and the effectiveness of New Jersey 10 Radiological Emergency Response Plan for Nuclear 11 Power Plants. In order that this hearing may be 12 properly documented, these proceedings are being 13 recording by a certified shorthand reporter. 14 Everyone attending this meeting is 15 asked to sign the attendance sheet before leaving. 16 The attendance sheets for these hearings are used to 17 update the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering's public 18 hearing mailing list. 19 Public notice of this hearing was 20 published in the New Jersey Register on June 3 and 21 July 1st of this year. In addition, public notice 22 was published in the South Jersey Times on July 2nd 23 through July 8th. Copies of the public notice for 24 the three hearings were mailed in June to all 25 persons who attended last year's hearings. 6 1 This hearing will proceed as follows: 2 I will provide a brief background on why we're 3 conducting this hearing, then I will introduce the 4 panel members and ask them to briefly describe the 5 role of their organization in nuclear emergency 6 preparedness and response. Finally, I will open the 7 hearing for comments and questions from the public. 8 The New Jersey Radiation Accident 9 Response Act requires that the Department of 10 Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the 11 New Jersey Division of State Police to conduct 12 public hearings, take comment on, to address 13 questions relevant to the adequacy and effect ness 14 of New Jersey Radiological Emergency Response Plan 15 for nuclear power plants. 16 These public hearings are held 17 annually in each of three counties affected by the 18 plan: Ocean County for the Oyster Creek Nuclear 19 Generating Station; and Salem and Cumberland 20 Counties for the Salem Unit 1, Salem unit 2, and 21 Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations. We are here 22 tonight to listen to your questions and comments on 23 New Jersey nuclear emergency response plan. 24 Comments on more general nuclear power issues that 25 relate to licensing and regulatory matters at 7 1 nuclear power plants are not within the purview of 2 this meeting and, hence, are not appropriate and 3 will not be addressed. 4 The purpose of the plan is to 5 coordinate and implement immediate and comprehensive 6 response at the state, county, and municipal levels 7 to a radiological emergency associated with any 8 nuclear power plant affecting the State of New 9 Jersey. Copies of the plan are available for public 10 inspection at the Salem County Emergency Management 11 Office in Mannington Township, Cumberland County 12 Office of Emergency Management in Bridgeton, and 13 Ocean County Office of Emergency Management in 14 Berkeley Township, the New Jersey Office of 15 Emergency Management in West Trenton, and public 16 libraries a Salem, Cumberland, and Ocean Counties. 17 Now I would like to introduce the 18 members panel. Mr. Jon Christiansen who is 19 representing the New Jersey Division of State 20 Police. Mr. Christiansen is the unit head of Office 21 of Emergency Management Radiological Emergency 22 Response Planning and Technical Unit. 23 Mr. Patrick Mulligan is representing 24 the New Jersey Department of Environmental 25 Protection. Mr. Mulligan is the manager of the 8 1 DEP'S Bureau of Nuclear Engineering. Mr. Jeffrey 2 Winegar is representing the New Jersey Department of 3 Health. Mr. Winegar is an emergency response 4 coordinator for the Division of Public Health 5 Infrastructure Laboratories and Emergency 6 Preparedness. If questions arise that involve the 7 Department of Health, I will call on him for a 8 response. 9 Now I ask Mr. Christian to briefly 10 describe the role of the State Police in the plan. 11 MR. CHRISTIANSEN: Thank you. For the 12 record I am John Christiansen. I'm representing the 13 State Office of Emergency Management in the Division 14 of State Police. Our office, as you may know, has 15 the responsibility for administering and 16 implementing the radiological emergency response 17 plans incidence of nuclear power plants in New 18 Jersey. 19 In addition, in preparation of 20 radiological emergency plans, New Jersey State 21 Police is the lead agency in following functional 22 areas: Notification and communication, command 23 coordination, protect the factions, which include 24 shelter in place, access control, food, water, and 25 milk control. Parallel actions include traffic 9 1 control, decontamination, exposure control, mass 2 care, law enforcement, fire control, public health, 3 and reentry, return, and recovery. 4 For the record, I would like to 5 introduce Sergeant Vincent Jackson from our south 6 region, and Mr. Joseph Sever, the coordinator of 7 Cumberland County Office of Emergency Management. 8 Thank you. 9 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Now I will 10 ask Mr. Mulligan to briefly describe the role of the 11 Department of Environment Protection in the plan. 12 MR. MULLIGAN: Good evening. My name 13 is Patrick Mulligan. I am the manager of the Bureau 14 of Nuclear Engineering. I'm going to briefly 15 discuss the role of the Department of Environmental 16 Protection in New Jersey Radiological Emergency 17 Response Plan. The New Jersey Radiological 18 Emergency Response Plan includes the plan, standard 19 operating procedures, and annexes. The plan 20 identifies all responsible state agencies and 21 outlines their specific role in the event of a 22 nuclear emergency. It is based on primary functions 23 that were just outline by Mr. Christiansen. 24 Since agency roles and 25 responsibilities that we've already outlined don't 10 1 change often, the plan itself essentially does not 2 change. The standard operating procedures contain 3 detailed construction and guidelines used by each 4 agency while performing their specific duties. The 5 standard operating procedures are reviewed and 6 tested annually through drills and exercises. The 7 procedures are then revised, as necessary, in order 8 to enhance emergency response. The Annexes, A and 9 B, and the Radiological Emergency Response Plans for 10 Salem/Hope Creek and Oyster Creek nuclear generating 11 sites. Each annex describes the planning bases and 12 the concept of operation for each municipalities 13 within a ten-mile emergency planning zone around 14 each site. 15 Under the New Jersey Radiation 16 Accident Response Act, the Department of 17 Environmental Protection has the lead role in 18 accident assessment and control of food, water, and 19 milk following an incident. Accident assessment 20 involves two separate analyses: An engineering 21 analysis of event at the plant as it unfolds; and an 22 analysis of the amount of radiation to which the 23 public may be exposed to in the event of a release. 24 Depending upon the severity of the 25 accident, the Department provides protective action 11 1 recommendations to the Governor who will make a 2 final decision on actions to be implemented to 3 protect public health and safety. Protective action 4 recommendations for the public may include 5 administration of potassium iodide, evacuation, 6 sheltering, and access control in the affected or 7 potentially affected area. The act also specifies 8 the Department develop and implement a comprehensive 9 monitoring strategy that includes the daily 10 monitoring of the environment and radioactivity 11 levels in the environment. The Department also 12 provides public health and safety and technical 13 guidance with respect to the preparation and 14 implementation of the plant. The Department's final 15 responsibility under the Act is to conduct, in 16 cooperation with the State Police, public hearings 17 annually in each designated county to determine the 18 adequacy and effectiveness of the plan. 19 Members of our staff from the 20 Department of Environmental Protection here night 21 with us are Mr. Rich Pinney who is a supervisor in 22 our engineering section, Mr. Jay Uglidis (phonetic) 23 who works in our environmental monitoring section, 24 and Mr. Chris Barry who works emergency preparedness 25 section. 12 1 Thank you. 2 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Now I'll 3 ask Mr. Winegar to briefly describe the role of the 4 Department of Health. 5 MR. WINEGAR: Thank you. 6 Good evening. My name is Jeff 7 Winegar. I'm here at the public hearing 8 representing the New Jersey Department of Health. 9 In the event of a radiological 10 incident at a nuclear power plant, New Jersey 11 Department of Health functions in a supportive role 12 to the New Jersey State Police regarding protective 13 actions for the general public. In addition, the 14 Department of Health will support will New Jersey 15 State Police in the area of evacuation and 16 sheltering operations of the public, as well as 17 public health and sanitation issues. 18 The Department of Health will 19 coordinate with the State EOC to lead state-level 20 emergency medical services operations. The 21 Department of Health will also coordinate hospital 22 and nursing home preparations and transfers, as 23 requested by the county medical and health 24 coordinators. 25 The Department of Health will function 13 1 in a supportive role to the New Jersey Department of 2 Environmental Protection, Bureau of Nuclear 3 Engineering for technical counsel and guidance on 4 public health and medical implications of radiation 5 exposures. 6 Upon declaration of the general 7 emergency, the Department of Health has in place a 8 standing order that authorizes the voluntarily use 9 of potassium iodide, or KI, by emergency workers and 10 the general public. KI has been distributed to 11 local health and emergency agencies in ocean, 12 Cumberland, and Salem Counties. In addition, KI is 13 in the possession of the New Jersey State Police. 14 And the bulk or remaining supplies resides with our 15 State strategic stockpile located in Trenton. 16 The Department of Health serves as the 17 lead agency for personal monitoring and 18 recordkeeping of emergency workers radiation 19 dosimetry results. The monitoring of emergency 20 workers is critical in ensuring that radiation 21 exposure levels are kept as low as reasonably 22 achievable. 23 Once an emergency phase of a 24 radiological incident is under control, for example, 25 no more relief of radiation, the New Jersey 14 1 Department of Health will assist with the recovery 2 phase. Representatives of the New Jersey Department 3 of Health, Consumer and Environmental Health 4 Services Food and Drug Safety Program may, for 5 example, be deployed with the BNE for field 6 activities involving the collection of milk and 7 other for food samples for radiological analysis. 8 Thank you. 9 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Thank you, 10 Jeff. 11 We'll now proceed with the public's 12 questions and comments. Those individuals who wish 13 to complete should complete a speaker registration 14 card and hand it to one of the staff. I will call 15 the speaker's name in the same order that I received 16 registration card. Please be certain to clearly 17 print your name and address on the registration card 18 so that we may contact you if we need to respond to 19 your comments or questions more fully in writing. 20 When I call your name, face the panel 21 and make yourself comfortable. Before you begin 22 your comments, please state and spell your name for 23 the reporter. Speakers will be limited to five 24 minutes each. If time still remains after everyone 25 has had a chance to speak, I will invite additional 15 1 comments from those individuals who have already 2 spoken. In fairness to the speaker and in order 3 that we can make the best use of this time, I ask 4 cooperation of the audience in refraining from 5 calling out. Comments from the audience will only 6 delay the proceedings and will disrupt our ability 7 to hear and accurately record the speakers' 8 statements. 9 Again, I would like to emphasize that 10 we're here tonight to listen to your questions and 11 comments on New Jersey's Nuclear Emergency Response 12 Plan. Comments on more general nuclear power issues 13 or issues that relate to licensing and regulatory 14 matters of nuclear power plants are not within the 15 purview of this meeting and, hence, are not 16 appropriate and will not be addressed. Thank you. 17 We will now proceed to call the first 18 commentator. And that will be Ms. Barbara Stratton. 19 MS. STRATTON: Do I stand or sit. 20 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: You can 21 sit if you'd like. 22 MS. STRATTON: Oh, good. 23 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Just so we 24 can hear you. 25 MS. STRATTON: Barbara Stratton, 16 1 S-T-R-A-T-T-O-N, and I'm here a Stow Creek resident. 2 I live at 282 Chestnut Road. That's just inside of 3 the Emergency Response Planning Area 6. 4 First, just let me say I have the 5 utmost confidence in the Emergency Response Plan and 6 I also have the utmost confidence in the emergency 7 response personnel that would be called to execute 8 it, if necessary. And thank goodness, we have never 9 had to do that. But I have enough of a information 10 technology background to know of advances in 11 telecommunications that can improve public safety. 12 Specifically, the ability to send mass text alerts 13 to portable handheld devices. This has proven to be 14 lifesaving in other parts of the country in other 15 kinds of events. And I was actually here last year 16 talking about this, lamenting the fact that the 17 majority of the New Jersey side of the Emergency 18 Response Zone of the power plant really doesn't have 19 an adequate telecommunications infrastructure. In 20 fact, portions of -- well, almost all of Stow Creek 21 and Greenwich Townships have no cellular service. 22 We have no broadband access, as defined by the FCC. 23 And we have a deteriorating copper landline system 24 that when it rains, it's difficult to make a phone 25 call. And if you can, it's staticy. So 17 1 telecommunications has been an issue in our area. 2 I find that amazing in one respect, 3 that the emergency zone of a power plant gets to 4 that point. And that was kind of my point last 5 year. The good news is we have improvement. All 6 Stow Creek Greenwich residents will have access to 7 FiOS by the end of the calendar year. And the first 8 cell tower has been approved for location on Stow 9 Creek School property, which provide cell service in 10 the eastern portion of Stow Creek Township. A 11 second cell tower is being proposed in Greenwich 12 Township. 13 So I don't really have any questions. 14 See, I'm also here not only as a Stow Creek resident 15 who happens to live in the Emergency Response Zone, 16 but I'm also the chairperson of the Cumberland 17 County Telecommunications Infrastructure Committee, 18 looking at ways we can facilitate build-out to a 19 21st telecommunication infrastructure throughout the 20 county, starting with the Emergency Response Zone. 21 So what I'm looking for really is help in connecting 22 the dots. Who do I need to talk to make sure that 23 we have the facilities in place that would allow the 24 Emergency Response Plan to be revised, if you will, 25 to take advantage of these advances in 18 1 telecommunications once we have consistent and 2 reliable cellular phone coverage? 3 MR. CHRISTIANSEN: Well, I can 4 initiate the dialog, but I'm going probably call on 5 Mr. Sever for some assistance. 6 One of the things I guess we have to 7 lament about is that we really can't push 8 market-driven services like cell and broadband. We 9 can't compel FiOS -- Verizon to bring FiOS down. 10 I'm happy that you're getting it. And I'm actually 11 happy from an emergency management standpoint 12 because it will allow us to bring in IT into the 13 Stow Creek and Greenwich OEC, which they've been 14 relying on Mr. Sever to a link between us. And that 15 will be a benefit to us in the future. 16 One of the things that we have been 17 looking at as a State, because the kind of mass 18 texting that you're referring to is a very costly 19 endeavor. I recently saw a demonstration in the 20 Ping 4 Alert System which Massachusetts uses, and I 21 think Maryland does as well. And it was for a 22 three-year contract in excess of $1.2 million, which 23 certainly the radiological program could not absorb. 24 And one of the things I also -- when I 25 say lament is because it is not compatible with all 19 1 appliances. If you have an iPad, an iPhone, it's 2 fine. If you use a Blackberry, you're not going to 3 get think anything. If you have -- at this point in 4 time. I realize that the technology is coming where 5 more instruments will be accessible. But at this 6 point, a system like that where we would just use an 7 Apple appliance probably would not be practical. We 8 need to actually rely on FEMA who is working on 9 similar broad mass communications through their -- I 10 guess they've been some testing with mass 11 communications through Verizon. But, again, it's 12 carrier driven. 13 In terms of your local coverage down 14 here in Cumberland County, Joe would you like to -- 15 MR. SEVER: Joe Sever with the Office 16 of Emergency Management, County Coordinator. We 17 understand your problems that you're going through. 18 We have -- the technology that we were using in this 19 area is basically is a reverse. We want to try to 20 reach out to most residents as we can. We would 21 love to be able to get 100 percent. That's an 22 impossibility. We've been using other social medias 23 as a method of getting it out, but with your limited 24 coverage down here, it makes it very difficult. 25 Very support of Andrew and what he's been trying to 20 1 do to bring fiberoptics, and I'm glad to see it's 2 coming down the highway now and the cell town that's 3 going to be built at the Stow Creek School. 4 We have been very limited out here. 5 We understand that. We are still relying on the 6 old-fashioned route alerting, knock on doors, that 7 kind of thing to get the message out. I mean, 8 that's the situation we're in. Hopefully, this 9 Verizon build-out will fix a lot of that. 10 We have been involved with cell tower 11 discussions. I have been since cell became a 12 reality a number of years ago. And there have been 13 always issues that developed between either tower 14 heights or the zoning or regulations or don't want 15 to built here, don't want to built there. All kinds 16 of thing. So, you know, hopefully, this will get 17 resolved this time around because the community is 18 in support of it now to have it brought in. 19 MS. STRATTON: Is the county actually 20 working with Verizon Wireless. 21 MR. SEVER: No. My office is not. 22 We're not involved with that, no. 23 MS. STRATTON: With respect to the 24 cell tower. 25 MR. SEVER: No, we don't get involved 21 1 with the cell towers at all in my office. Emergency 2 Management Office, we do not. The only time we may 3 get involved with them, if they make a space 4 available where we can put a radio transmitter on 5 there for public safety. Other than that, we don't 6 get any of that regulation. That's not part of our 7 office. 8 One thing I would like, though, if 9 it's possible. I'll give you my business card. 10 When your committee meets, I'd like to see if I can 11 get a representative from my office to be in 12 attendance. 13 MS. STRATTON: Okay. Great. 14 MR. SEVER: So we know what's going. 15 We'd like to be part of it. We may not be able to 16 bring a whole lot to the table, but we'd like to 17 know what's going on. 18 MS. STRATTON: Okay. That just brings 19 an additional thought. And again, maybe I just need 20 connecting dots. I'm also a member of both the 21 local and the county planning boards, so I was part 22 of the hearing when the cell tower was approved for 23 Stow Creek School. And part of that hearing, the 24 Verizon site consultant said that specifically their 25 policy is the EMS can install a transmitter if they 22 1 so desire, but they rely on EMS personnel to reach 2 out to them. They don't necessarily -- 3 MR. SEVER: We've been waiting to see 4 for the construction to start. 5 MS. STRATTON: Okay. That's supposed 6 to be this summer. 7 MR. SEVER: Yes. We've been advised 8 of that. I've been kind of following that. We have 9 a site in Hopewell where we do transmit off of 10 behind the old Cumberland Manor building. We have 11 been interested in that site to see who the vender 12 or who owns the site. That's the biggest question 13 right now. Lots of time the wireless carriers don't 14 own the tower but they have a subcontractor who may 15 own the tower and they lease space off of it. 16 MS. STRATTON: In this case, it's one 17 in the same, I think. 18 MR. SEVER: Is it? 19 MS. STRATTON: Pretty sure, yeah. 20 Because we were assured as part of the approval 21 process that if so desired that the County could 22 install a transmitter if they wanted. 23 MR. CHRISTIANSEN: I would point out, 24 though, that although New Jersey Emergency 25 Management use Facebook and Twitter during Sandy, 23 1 Mr. Sever pointed out to me they still used the Paul 2 Revere method. Until we have some assurety of a 3 hundred percent contact, we will use a variety of 4 methods to notify the public. Whether it be the 5 Internet, Twitter, Facebook, Reverse 911, backup 6 route alerting, the sirens. All of those components 7 will probably remain because it just -- there's 8 always that one person who doesn't want to have a 9 cell phone, doesn't want to have Internet. And you 10 don't want to miss somebody. So we will continue to 11 have a host of methods to access the public and 12 advise them. 13 MS. STRATTON: Okay. Is there any 14 body else -- I mean, obviously, we need to deal the 15 Cumberland County EMS, but is there any other 16 agencies we ought to be talking to in terms of 17 leveraging? 18 MR. CHRISTIANSEN: You're just a bit 19 out of the field for me on that one. I'm sorry. 20 The only other one I can think of might be Board of 21 Public Utilities. 22 MS. STRATTON: Well, we have been 23 dealing with them. Okay. 24 MR. SEVER: John, I want to 25 congratulate this lady. She has been the forefront 24 1 of this battle down here. She's done more than what 2 the government could do. 3 MS. STRATTON: That's not true. 4 MR. SEVER: She brought this -- it is 5 the truth. She brought it to the attention of every 6 agency there is. She was able to get public hearing 7 down here. More than what we could have done. And 8 she's been able to get Verizon through her contacts 9 to bring in fiber into this area. I got to 10 congratulate her. 11 MS. STRATTON: No. That's not true. 12 MR. CHRISTIANSEN: I'm going to tell 13 you I thank you very much for your diligence. 14 MS. STRATTON: No, we have had a 15 battle, but I will tell you that it was very much an 16 interdependent action on a couple of volunteers, one 17 of which was myself, but there was also counterpart 18 in Greenwich. And we had effective -- I underscore 19 that, effective political leadership. And those two 20 interdependent factors really, really has delivered. 21 I just continue to be amazed that, you 22 know -- I thought once you brought up the public 23 safety issue and a nuclear power plant, we had a 24 no-brainer slam dunk, but it still took three years. 25 But that's okay. It still got done. And it's still 25 1 moving along nicely. Now we're going springboard on 2 those efforts a little bit and try to branch out 3 into other areas of the county. 4 But I also -- although I don't speak 5 for Salem county, I personally know as I drive from 6 my place of business -- or from my home in Stow 7 Creek to my place of business in Pennsville, I don't 8 get a reliable cell signal until I hit Salem City, 9 and that's like 60 to 70 percent of the Emergency 10 Response Zone on this side of the Delaware Bay. I'm 11 amazed that there's not better ever coverage. And 12 although I understand the market driven thing. At 13 the same time, isn't there a public safety issue 14 when you start to talk about certain sensitive areas 15 across the nation that may also be low population 16 density? 17 So anyway, I'm getting off track. But 18 I thank you for your time. And if you can think of 19 any other agencies, point of contacts, that might 20 help us in this effort, I would appreciate it. 21 Doesn't have to be tonight. You can reach out to me 22 via e-mail. I would appreciate it. Thank you. 23 HEARING OFFICER HUMPHREYS: Thank you 24 for your comments. 25 Is there anyone else from the public 26 1 who has any comments, questions at this time? 2 If not, then I will close the hearing. 3 Thank you for coming. 4 (Hearing concluded at 7:25 p.m.) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I, Lisa C. Bradley, a Certified Court 4 Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New 5 Jersey, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a 6 true and accurate transcript of the testimony as 7 taken stenographically by and before me at the time, 8 place and on the date hereinbefore set forth, to the 9 best of my ability. 10 11 12 13 __________________________________________________ 14 LISA C. BRADLEY, CCR 15 CCR NO. 30XI00228700 16 Dated: July 29, 2013 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25