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Senate quizzes Xcel chief on Monticello nuke leak
Utility president told Senate panel Xcel has learned it’s better to keep community in the loop on leaks even if health threat is minimal
ST PAUL, Minn. — Xcel Energy workers did everything by the book when they discovered a leak of radioactive water at the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant last November, but the experience has taught the company a few things about keeping local communities in the loop.
That was the word from Xcel President Chris Clark Wednesday when he appeared before a Minnesota Senate panel.
“A real lesson learned for us was even though this was something contained to our site and didn’t present a public health risk, people wanted us to be sharing more information sooner,” Clark told lawmakers.
“We have great support from central Minnesota. We don’t want to take that for granted. We want to be a good neighbor. So, I think we’ve definitely learned lessons there about working with the communities that have been so supportive of us, to have a better process to share information.”
The hearing was a joint meeting of the Senate’s energy and environment committees, held for the purpose of briefing lawmakers on the leak of water infused with radioactive tritium and the company’s response to it.
Clark said Xcel discovered higher levels of tritium in ground water test wells on the site in late November and immediately notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He said the NRC posted the notification on its website, but in hindsight he conceded most local residents and city leaders don’t regularly check that website.
It wasn’t until March 16 when the leak was announced to the general public, a decision that drew criticism from some residents of Monticello and others.
Kirk Koudelka, an assistant commissioner at the MPCA, told the committee it’s always a balancing act when it comes to deciding how much to share about a situation that doesn’t pose an immediate public health threat. In this case, regulators and Xcel were still trying to figure out what was happening to the water under the plant.
“Presenting too little information with very little details ends up creating the potential for fear when we’re not able to answer all the questions, and then anxiety,” Koudelka explained.
He said it took time to determine the source of the tritium leak and the volume that made its way into the ground water below the power plant, which is situated along the Mississippi River 35 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
So far, the plume, or underground footprint of the radioactive water, is still limited to the area beneath the power plant. It has migrated about 150 feet to the north but hasn’t been found in any testing wells directly adjacent to the river.
Koudelka said that site’s gradient, or the pathway for the water to flow underground, moves toward the river. So, it’s not expected to move towards the nearest private water wells about one mile away. The tritium won’t be able to reach the nearest municipal wells that serving the city of Monticello three miles away.
In fact, workers at the Monticello plant are still drinking water from a well in a different part of the complex. That well has normal “background” levels of tritium, which is a naturally substance.
The most current information on the health implications presented by the tritium leak has been assembled on this page at the Minnesota Department of Health website.
Dan Huff, an assistant commissioner for MDH, said even if the tritium-laced water were to reach the Mississippi River, it would be so diluted it wouldn’t pose a threat to wildlife or the municipal water supplies for St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Huff said tritium, as a low energy beta particle, can’t penetrate a person’s skin. The risk of cancer would come by drinking a sizeable amount of tritium-laced water. He noted the EPA considers a tritium concentration higher than 20,000 picocuries as unsafe for drinking water.
“You would be exposed to 4 millirems of radiation. For context, a chest ex-ray is about 10 millirems.”
Lawmakers also asked if the fish kill that occurred last month when the plant went off line for repairs had anything to do with tritium exposure. Officials from the MPCA and the DNR pointed out that the tritium hasn’t reached the river yet.
They said fish kills are a common occurrence when plants stop operating, especially in winter months, because of the sudden water temperature change near the plant.
“It comes down to warmer water is coming out of power plants, which is a common thing everywhere, not just with nuclear plants,” Dan Parsons, the DNR’s head of fisheries, told senator.
“So, if that warm water stops, fish receive a thermal shock.”
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
Several fans said this team has inspired them to pursue a career in sports.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx is inspiring the next generation of athletes regardless of whether they win or lose.
Sophia Witkowski went to the game with her mother, Christy, to watch Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
“For her to see all her idols it’s just so fun,” Christy said.
“I like it because women’s sports aren’t that popular. Now the WNBA is really popular,” Sophia said.
They weren’t the only mother-and-daughter duo at the game. Amanda Williams took her 10-year-old daughter Abby to watch.
“It’s really awesome to have my daughter here to see great role models from the team and the fact,” Amanda said.
“I think that it’s super cool that they get to do what they want to do, and they get paid for it too,” Abby said.
Maggie Niska with Her Next Play, a nonprofit working to empower the next generation of female leaders through sports, said their visibility is everything.
“I think it gives these girls someone to look up to, and it gives them something to aspire to, and by having them in the community it makes seem a little more reachable too,” Niska said.
She said the Lynx Academy put on a basketball clinic for some of her girls in Hopkins Tuesday night. Niska said all of the professional women’s sports teams in Minnesota show girls they can have a future in sports.
“I just think that any visibility these girls can get to women competing at sports at a higher level, hearing these women speak, and seeing them succeed, and getting insight into their lives and what they do to compete at this higher level, I think all of that serves as a great inspiration to these girls,” she said.
It’s something Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve understands well.
“For young girls to see the opportunities for them to play in any sport and then also more in sport, jobs in sports that sports can be a career,” Reeve said.
Sophia Ritter and Taylor Tool drove hours to see the players in action.
“We traveled from Aberdeen, South Dakota and the Northern State women’s basketball team took two vans,” she said.
Ritter and Tool both said it was a cool opportunity for them to see two great teams play on the professional level.
“Growing up, WNBA wasn’t really a big a thing and something that everyone was watching and now that it’s growing it’s really nice to see,” Ritter said.
“It’s really fun seeing all the support and seeing how many people come to watch the games like it’s really cool to see all the fans in the stands filling up and it’s growing,” Tool said.
Gophers’ Shoot Guard Mara Braun went to the game with her team after practice.
“These women out here are just amazingly talented and they play with this toughness that I think we’re really trying to embody as a team,” Braun said.
She knows young girls are looking up to her and her teammates just like they are with the Lynx.
“Especially growing up, you know, you want to play college basketball, and the next level is WNBA or overseas or whatever it is, so for me this is obviously a dream and something I’m working towards to be able to see it,” she said.
Braun dreams of playing in the WNBA and watching the Lynx and the Liberty in the finals makes that dream feel like it could be her new reality.
The department is the only one in the state to start a non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The City of St. Paul has seen a number of deadly shootings recently, but often it’s the ones that aren’t fatal that don’t get as much attention. And for police, they can also be harder to solve.
The department, though, is trying something new to try and reverse that trend.
“The amount of guns that are on the street right now,” St. Paul Police Commander Nikkole Peterson said about the biggest change she’s seen in the 22 years she’s been a cop. “It’s jaw-dropping.”
Commander Peterson is now in charge of the department’s non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January focusing only on those crimes.
It’s the only department in the state implementing something like that, after it saw success with the police department in Denver, Colorado doing something similar.
“If there’s a shooting, it doesn’t matter what time of night that happens or time of day, that sergeant will get called in to begin the investigation immediately,” said Commander Peterson.
The crime used to fall on the homicide unit that’s already burdened by heavy case loads. There’s also usually little victim cooperation which can stall solving non-fatal shootings.
“A lot of times we wouldn’t investigate it any further or the prosecutor wouldn’t charge those crimes and we knew that something different had to be done,” said Commander Peterson.
The unit is now treating non-fatal shootings like homicides and making them a priority. The investigators also rely more heavily on evidence and devote just as many resources, from forensics to video management and even SWAT teams.
“We are utilizing all these different resources to help solve these crimes,” said Commander Peterson. “We’re chasing down every lead that we can.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said there have been 86 non-fatal shootings compared to 99 this same time last year. But two years ago, there were 170, putting the city’s solve rate around 60%.
“Anything above 50% is just incredible and so we’re really happy with where we’re at right now,” said Commander Peterson.
Commander Peterson also credits the city’s ASPIRE program that focuses on intervention, particularly with youth. She also points to the Office of Neighborhood Safety that partners with local organizations working on prevention, saying this cooperation is ultimately what will reduce crime.
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