Yes, you read that correctly– the local community around Oyster Creek generating station has come out in support of the plant in their New Jersey community during a recent public hearing.
Located near Barnegat Bay, the facility that provides low-carbon energy for nearly 600,000 homes continues to have the strong support of its neighbors:
“The nuclear plant has been an excellent neighbor here,” said Neil Marine, a Lacey resident who said he has seen no evidence of radiation of chemical contamination leaving the plant.
“We hear a lot of pseudoscience here,” he said. “We have the best fishing on the East Coast in my lifetime right here — with the nuclear plant. A little bit of warm water is not killing our bay.
“I swim in that outflow,” he said. “I eat the fish. I eat the crabs. I live the life.”
While there is a push from organizations opposed to nuclear power to have the facility closed, community members have come asking the plant’s operator, Exelon, to extend the life of the plant past its 2019 agreed shut down with the state. This includes mayor of neighboring Waretown, Peter Lachawiec, who said:
“I’m a proponent of nuclear energy,” he said. “I want a new nuclear plant. I also want cooling towers. I think they should be here for the next 50 years. Build a new nuclear plant, build the cooling towers, you can make all the money you want, and we still all have our jobs.”
