Exelon sued over Illinois nuclear plant's spills
Tuesday 14 March 2006, 2:14pm EST
CHICAGO, March 14 (Reuters) - A federal lawsuit has been filed charging Exelon Corp. (EXC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) with failing to maintain a pipeline from its Braidwood nuclear plant in Illinois that spilled tritium-laced waste water, lawyers said on Tuesday.
The lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago seeks class action status for 14,000 neighboring residents. It demands compensation for property damage and bottled water costs as well as company-financed medical testing.
Exelon has admitted several leaks — including 3 million gallons in both 1998 and 2000 — from a pipeline that carries waste water containing tritium to the Kankakee River, about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Chicago.
Tritium, a byproduct of nuclear generation, can enter the body through ingestion, absorption or inhalation. Exposure can increase the risk of cancer, birth defects and genetic damage, the statement from the law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll said.
Exelon, in recently making public the spills dating to 1996, has said the tritiated water has contaminated ground water beyond the plant boundary but has not posed a significant danger to residents' water wells. It has pledged to help with the costs of bottled water and with finding an alternative source of drinking water.
"Our clients feel that after the first spill in 1996, Exelon should have immediately taken corrective measures and informed the community of the accident. Instead of fixing the problem, Exelon allowed more leaks to happen and covered up their actions until they were forced to disclose these radioactive releases," Cohen, Milstein attorney Richard Lewis said.
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