DEP finds chemical has not reached public water supplies

Concentrations of radioactive tritium in the aquifers directly below the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, Ocean County, have decreased substantially in recent weeks, according to samples of groundwater, state Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced Wednesday.

The groundwater remediation system set up to address a tritium leak at the plant, which is owned and operated by the Exelon Corp., has been running continuously for almost two weeks, Martin said. He said tritium levels in the extracted ground water from the specially drilled recovery well are registering at well below the federally accepted limits.

While Martin said he is pleased with the initial results, he stressed the DEP will continue aggressive efforts to have the radioactive material pumped from the aquifers and prevent any migration of that material towards potable water supplies in the region.