Bridges, Dams and Nuclear Plants: The Hurricane in Vermont

Bridges

Two short videos below show the covered bridge at Quechee being attacked by floodwaters from Hurricane Irene. This bridge is next to one of Vermont's most beautiful restaurants, Simon Pearce. I believe Simon Pearce is also flooded. Quechee is in Hartford township, my township.

(My house is okay. I am not trying to worry people here. I am just trying to say that this is "in the neighborhood.")

Dams

Green Mountain power may have to release water from Marshfield Dam. As Green Mountain Power said in their press release this evening:

The heavy rains have significantly increased water levels behind GMP’s dams, reaching levels that are potentially dangerous. At our Marshfield dam, record water levels are approaching the top of the dam. Because it is an earthen dam, water cannot be allowed to flow over its top. We are prepared to take emergency measures to protect the integrity of the dam. If necessary, the flow of water through the dam will be increased, which will result in greater flows of water all along the Winooski River.

Releasing the water into the Winooski poses problems, because the Winooski flows through Montpelier, and Montpelier is already being flooded. The latest Montpelier City Update for Hurricane Irene says that flood levels are currently similar to the May floods this year. Here's a video of the May floods.

Update Monday Aug 29 a.m. The water did not top the Marshfield dam, and the water did not have to be released down the Winooski to cause even more problems in Montpelier. However, while the dam is being inspected, the 350 families that were evacuated cannot return home.

Nuclear Plants

Nothing interesting going on. All Entergy plants in the Northeast continue safe operations after Irene. As I would expect.

Planning and forethought pay off.

The Silence of Governor Shumlin

Shumlin Speaks

Let's start with Governor Shumlin speaking at a press conference in April, the day after Entergy filed suit against Vermont.

In the video below, at the one-minute mark, a reporter asks Shumlin if he regrets his comments on nuclear safety. The reporter notes that the Entergy suit quotes some of Shumlin's comments (on Vermont Yankee safety) as examples of state pre-emption of federal regulatory powers.

Shumlin answers that he never talked about safety, just reliability. Shumlin then puts his foot firmly in his mouth, saying the plant is "leaking radon into the ground" and other radiological non-sequiturs. In other words, Shumlin talks about radiation safety.

If I were Shumlin's lawyer at that point, I would have told him to shut up. Instead, my attitude was: "Go, Shumlin! Keep talking! Keep that foot in place!"

(This is a video from the website of True North Reports, of a Shumlin press conference on April 22, the day after Entergy filed suit against the state. I also featured this video on an earlier blog post.)

Shumlin Stops Speaking

A few days later, on May 5, Shumlin was supposed to appear on a radio show about Vermont Yankee. He didn't appear. Shumlin claimed he needed to visit the Lake Champlain flood damage at that time. (I mentioned this in my post on the Vermont Law School blog.)

I don't believe that that was Shumlin's reason for canceling his appearance on the show. I think he had gotten the message from his lawyers: "The state is being sued. You are not doing the state's case any good with your comments!"

I am not as important a person as Governor Shumlin, and I can persuade radio programs to meet my scheduling needs when they want me to appear on their programs. If I can do this, so can Shumlin. If the Governor had wanted to talk about Vermont Yankee, the program would have been re-scheduled for when the Governor was available.

The program was not rescheduled.

Shumlin hasn't said a word about Vermont Yankee since then. Shumlin talks about health care, cigarette taxes, schools. But not about Vermont Yankee.

Relief

It's so nice and quiet nowadays. Shumlin is nice and quiet.

I don't miss Shumlin's rants about Entergy Louisiana and their thieving ways. I was tired of his endless statements about the dangers of strontium in the groundwater--no strontium had ever been detected in the groundwater. I was tired of hearing his nasty innuendo and his fractured facts--repeated over and over.

I think Shumlin has gone quiet for the duration of the lawsuit.

My peonies were spectacular, and Shumlin has shut up about Vermont Yankee. It is shaping up to be a lovely summer, despite all the rain. Great peonies; quiet Shumlin. Who could ask for anything more?

Peony picture from Wikipedia.