Unit two will shut down in 2020, unit three in 2021
CORTLANDT – Town Supervisor Linda Pugliese has created a community
unity task force to work on short-term and long-term concerns with the
closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Cortlandt.
Pugliese wants the group to consider the challenges facing the local municipalities and school district with the loss of a significant amount of taxes and jobs.
The school district receives one-third of its revenue from Indian Point; the Village of Buchanan, 46 percent; the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 28 percent; the Verplank Fire Department, 64 percent; Westchester County, one percent; and the Town of Cortlandt, two percent. Pugliese also said the PILOT, the 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, will end once the plants close.
The closure will also mean the loss of 1,200 permanent jobs plus part-time jobs and many contractors will lose their positions.
There are also issues of safety and security concerning the storage of spent fuel rods and the environmental issue of reclamation and cleanup of the land including the 33 wells currently on the property, groundwater and Hudson River protection.
The first session of the new task force will be held on Thursday, February 16 at 7 p.m. at Cortlandt Town Hall.
