Help Protect Barnegat Bay and the Jersey Shore

We need your help in protecting Barnegat Bay, a critical ecosystem on New Jersey's coastline. Over 500,000 people live within the Barnegat Bay watershed year round, with double that number due to summer. The Barnegat Bay estuary covers 42 miles of shoreline and is home to crabs, fish, birds, and other wildlife. The continued economic and environmental health of the watershed and estuary is dependent on the continued health of its waters.

Right now Barnegat Bay is literally dying because of excessive environmental pollution. In addition to problems from storm water runoff, it faces extreme pressure from Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant’s outdated design and structural/environmental/safety problems. The NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) recently announced that new test results that found groundwater contamination from Exelon's Oyster Creek nuclear plant was greater than expected, having spread to the Cohansey aquifer, a major source of drinking water for South Jerseyans. The radioactive contaminant, tritium, was found at over 50 times the federal drinking water standard.

In addition to radioactive leaks, the plant is currently operating without cooling towers. This means that every day the plant is allowed to send 1.4 billion gallons of superheated discharge water into the bay, releasing harmful chemicals and causing major ecoysystem disruption and fish kills - a clear violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

Thanks to the efforts of the NJ Environmental Federation, Grandmothers Mothers and More for Energy Safety (GRAMMES), and coalition partners, the NJDEP formally recommended that Exelon install cooling towers to help stop the devastation to the bay. This is great news for the bay and makes common sense - every "new" nuclear power plant in the country is now being required to use this well-established technology and numerous other plants have already made the switch. Cooling towers at Oyster Creek would reduce the amount of water used by 95%, thereby reducing the economic and environmental impacts on Barnegat Bay.

Take Action!

The NJDEP permit requiring Exelon to install cooling towers at Oyster Creek is a key step to protect the health of Barnegat Bay and the Jersey Shore. However, the permit's fine print permit gives Exelon over 7 yrs. to build the cooling towers. We simply can't wait seven years to require this technology at the plant.

Please contact Governor Christie at 609-292-6000 or send him a letter online. Ask that he ensures that Exelon installs cooling towers at Oyster Creek within 3 years and keep holding Exelon accountable for contaminating our water. The health of Barnegat Bay depends on it.

Oyster Creek News

• Exelon Punts on Oyster Creek Nuke Plant Leak, NJDEP and Environmentalists Kick Back
• Oyster Creek Leak Worse Than Expected
• Radioactive Leaks at Oyster Creek
• Final Barnegat Bay stakeholder meeting finds many culprits but few easy cures
• N.J. DEP chief criticizes Exelon's response to radioactive-water leaks at Oyster Creek nuclear reactor
• New Jersey water 'radioactive'
• Nuclear water leaks into N.J. aquifer
• Barnegat Bay study a DEP priority, says agency's new leader
• N.J. tells nuclear plant to build cooling tower
  
• What is Tritium and Why is It in My Aquifer? 

For more information on this campaign:

Peggi Sturmfels, Program Organizer, 732-280-8988