NEW CASTLE TOWN BOARD

RESOLUTION of January 28, 2003 in response to the Witt Report

WHEREAS, the Town of New Castle seeks to ensure the public health and safety of those who live and/or work within the town, and

WHEREAS, the Town of New Castle has been coordinating efforts with the Westchester County Board of Legislators for the past three years to monitor the County’s Emergency Evacuation Plan that would be put into effect in the event of a radiological incident at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, and

WHEREAS, the Town of New Castle has supported the Westchester County Board of Legislator’s efforts to obtain an independent, non-governmental assessment of the ability of the County’s Emergency Evacuation Plan to achieve its goals to ensure public health and safety, and

WHEREAS, as a result of serious questions raised regarding the Westchester County’s Emergency Evacuation Plan at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, an independent, non-governmental assessment was made of the ability of Plan to achieve its goals of protecting public health and ensuring public safety, and

WHEREAS, under contract with the State of New York such an assessment has been made by James Lee Witt Associates, LLC and their findings included:

(1) The plans are built on compliance with regulations, rather than a strategy that leads to structures and systems to protect from radiation exposure; (2) The plans appear based on the premise that people will comply with official government directions rather than acting in accordance with what they perceive to be their best interest; (3) The plans do not consider the possible additional ramifications of a terrorist caused release; (4) The plans do not consider the reality and impacts of spontaneous evacuation; and (5) Response exercises designed to test the plans are of limited use in identifying inadequacies and improving subsequent responses; and

WHEREAS, these deficiencies have, in turn, called into question the ability of the Plan to achieve the goals of protecting public health and ensuring public safety,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT

RESOLVED, that security at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants needs to be placed under the control of the United States military and that this be done without further delay, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the County, State and Federal Governments to immediately begin to implement those recommendations of the Witt Report relevant to their respective responsibilities in and for the Emergency Evacuation Plan, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the County Executive or any other official and/or employee of the County of Westchester to not issue a radiological emergency preparedness activities form or any other official communication that would in any way state or imply that the Emergency Evacuation Plan as it currently exists is capable of achieving its goals of protecting public health and ensuring public safety in the event of a radiological incident, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the Governor of the State of New York, in recognition of the refusal of the County Executives of all four affected Counties to issue letters of certification (also known as checklists) concerning the efficacy of the Emergency Evacuation Plan, to refuse to certify said Plan to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the Federal Emergency Management Agency to decertify the Emergency Evacuation Plan as inadequate to protect the public health and to ensure public safety, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in recognition of the inadequacies of the Emergency Evacuation Plan to protect the public health and to ensure public safety, to order an immediate shutdown of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants until such time as it can be demonstrated that a revised emergency evacuation plan, which addresses all the inadequacies of the current Emergency Evacuation Plan as described in the James Lee Witt Associates, LLC Report, can achieve its goals of protecting the public health and ensuring public safety. Such revised emergency evacuation plan should pay particular attention to the recommendation that the emergency evacuation plan of "any plant adjacent to high population areas should have different requirements than plants otherwise situated, because protective actions are more difficult and the consequences of failure or delay are higher," and be it further.

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board calls upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin the decommissioning process to reduce the vulnerability of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants at the earliest possible date, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New Castle Town Board hereby directs that its will and its desire as expressed through this Resolution be transmitted to all appropriate parties within the County, State and Federal Governments empowered to act upon and effect the provisions as stated herein.

Dated January 28, 2003