Buried Pipes and Hidden Truth at Vermont Yankee – Entergy challenges PSB open meeting

Shut out during the shut down, as once again Entergy tries to control media access to a select few.

When independent documentary filmmaker and public television videographer Robbie Lepzer registered to film a public tour of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (VY), he expected it to be a rather standard process.  After all, Entergy regularly admits the press and TV cameras for site tours.  This tour, scheduled for Thursday April 29 is for members of the Public Service Board (PSB) and the media.

Leppzer’s shut out during shut down by Entergy has resulted in a PSB demand for information from Entergy as to why a journalist is not being allowed to film when other TV media is filming and has been filming. [Emphasis added.]

MEMORANDUM

To: Parties in PSB Docket No. 7600

From: Susan M. Hudson, Clerk of the Board

Re: Turning Tide Productions’ Request to Film Site Visit

Date: April 27, 2010

On April 27, 2010, Robbie Leppzer sent the attached e-mail to the Public Service Board (“Board”) requesting that the Board take action to allow Mr. Leppzer to bring television cameras to the site visit in Docket 7600 scheduled for Thursday, April 29. The Board requests that Entergy submit a response to Mr. Leppzer’s request by noon on April 28. In particular, the Board requests Entergy to address whether Entergy is permitting news organizations to have television cameras, as Mr. Leppzer indicates. If so, Entergy should explain why Mr. Leppzer is being treated differently from those news organizations.

The Board also requests that Entergy explain what, if any, restrictions on cameras are

necessary to ensure that Entergy fulfills its security and safety obligations.

Other parties may also submit comments by the same deadline.

cc: Robbie Leppzer

Leppzer has more than 30-years of documentary film making [see Leppzer’s resume below the fold].  In preparation for a documentary film on the relicensing of VY, he has been filming testimony presented to the Legislature and its committees since January when discussion of both the leak and Entergy’s request to relicense the nuclear plant began in earnest.  Given that Vermont is the only state in the country to have the legal right to decide if VY should receive its Certificate for Public Good (CPG), it makes sense to me that someone would want to create a documentary about this subject.  I also expect that Entergy would try to thwart such an effort.  

Robbie Leppzer, documentary filmmaker & videographer

At the very time Entergy is claiming a new policy of openness to Vermont State officials, boards, commissions, the legislature and the media, it has denied Leppzer permission to film the tour even though he is filming for CCTV Channnel 17 out of Burlington, VT in addition to his own documentary work.  Leppzer may, as Entergy’s Smith informed him, may take the tour, but without any film equipment, a predicament that is challenging for a filmmaker.  

Entergy’s action has once again put them in the spotlight in a negative way.  After being shut out of filming, Leppzer contacted State Representative Sarah Edwards from Brattleboro, who is a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel.  Edwards wrote to Entergy requesting that they reconsider their decision and give Leppzer equal access.  Smith still denied Leppzer access, so at that time, Leppzer sent the entire packet of email correspondence, herein reproduced below the fold, to the PSB.  

The PSB has given Entergy until noon today to explain why they are preventing Leppzer from filming.    

More below the fold, including the entire email correspondence between Leppzer and Entergy’s Smith.

I first met Leppzer in January when he was filming testimony given to the Natural Resources Committee regarding leaks at Vermont Yankee, and have seen him, along with many other members of the media, at almost every nuclear testimony and event I have attended since January from hearings to the NRC meeting in Brattleboro on April 19.  

I find the decision to exclude Leppzer as odd since this is a public meeting that includes the media.  While NRC Region 1 Spokesperson Neil Sheehan has denied me permission to be on the NRC email list and claimed that Green Mountain Daily is not bona-fide media, even the NRC allowed Leppzer to film their workshop and meeting. [As NRC and Entergy should be learning, attempting to shut out the media only results in more press and more scrutiny.]

In prior public touring events, for example the Stakeholder’s Meeting and press conference, which Entergy hosted at Vermont Yankee on March 25, 2010, a member in attendance wrote that

multiple media outlets were granted access to photograph, film, and videotape the plant.  The only restrictions on media coverage that day were that photographers could not shoot any of the security towers or security personnel. The media was walked from the Hunt House to the excavation area, then around the back of the plant to the area where dry casks are stored. Plant officials showed the media each of the well heads, including the drinking water well that had by then been removed from service. There were no restrictions on shooting any of these elements.

The PSB is having a formal public meeting tour because it is adjudicating a request by intervenors to shut down VY until the tritium leak, which was uncovered January 7, was stopped.  Entergy maintains that the source of the leak has been found and stopped.  The PSB, media, and intervenors were scheduled to have an opportunity to view the location of the leak on Thursday to see the repairs now that the leak has been stopped and the plant is shut down for refueling.

Leppzer appears to have followed every protocol required in order to film at VY, including registering with the Public Service Board, and filming for Burlington’s Channel 17 Public Access television in addition to using the footage for his own documentary.  See the entire chain of emails in the PDF below.

Leppzer began writing to Entergy’s PR Staff members Rob Williams and Larry Smith April 8 regarding the Entergy’s science fair hosted April 12 at the Ramada Inn.  On April 18, Leppzer wrote:

As I mentioned in a previous email, I’m directing and producing an independent documentary about nuclear power in the new millennium, highlighting the debate in Vermont over the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.  This will be a feature documentary intended for national broadcast on public television or a national cable network.  My previously produced documentaries and commissioned magazine segments have been broadcast nationally on PBS, CNN, CNN International, Cinemax, Sundance Channel and HDNet.

On Friday, I spoke with Judith Whitney, Deputy Clerk of the Vermont Public Service Board, and she informed me that the site visit by the Public Service Board to Vermont Yankee on April 29 is open to the press and media.

Below is information on our documentary television crew members, in accordance with Entergy regulations for people visiting the site.


LeppzerResume2010


Leppzer filming VY chronology

Buried Pipes and Hidden Truth at Vermont Yankee – Entergy challenges PSB open meeting (updated 2X)

Shut out during the shut down, as once again Entergy tries to control media access to a select few.

When independent documentary filmmaker and public television videographer Robbie Lepzer registered to film a public tour of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (VY), he expected it to be a rather standard process.  After all, Entergy regularly admits the press and TV cameras for site tours.  This tour, scheduled for Thursday April 29 is for members of the Public Service Board (PSB) and the media.

——-

Update #1

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (together, “Entergy VY”),have determined to allow credentialed media, including Tuming Tide Productions, to take photographs of or film the areas to be visited during the site visit.

 [See complete Downs, Rachlin, Martin response to the Public Service Board in last attached document.]  Turning Tide Productions is Robbie Leppzer’s film company.

——-

Leppzer’s shut out during shut down by Entergy has resulted in a PSB demand for information from Entergy as to why a journalist is not being allowed to film when other TV media is filming and has been filming. [Emphasis added.]

MEMORANDUM

To: Parties in PSB Docket No. 7600

From: Susan M. Hudson, Clerk of the Board

Re: Turning Tide Productions’ Request to Film Site Visit

Date: April 27, 2010

On April 27, 2010, Robbie Leppzer sent the attached e-mail to the Public Service Board (“Board”) requesting that the Board take action to allow Mr. Leppzer to bring television cameras to the site visit in Docket 7600 scheduled for Thursday, April 29. The Board requests that Entergy submit a response to Mr. Leppzer’s request by noon on April 28. In particular, the Board requests Entergy to address whether Entergy is permitting news organizations to have television cameras, as Mr. Leppzer indicates. If so, Entergy should explain why Mr. Leppzer is being treated differently from those news organizations.

The Board also requests that Entergy explain what, if any, restrictions on cameras are

necessary to ensure that Entergy fulfills its security and safety obligations.

Other parties may also submit comments by the same deadline.

cc: Robbie Leppzer

Leppzer has more than 30-years of documentary film making [see Leppzer’s resume below the fold].  In preparation for a documentary film on the relicensing of VY, he has been filming testimony presented to the Legislature and its committees since January when discussion of both the leak and Entergy’s request to relicense the nuclear plant began in earnest.  Given that Vermont is the only state in the country to have the legal right to decide if VY should receive its Certificate for Public Good (CPG), it makes sense to me that someone would want to create a documentary about this subject.  I also expect that Entergy would try to thwart such an effort.  

Robbie Leppzer, documentary filmmaker & videographer

At the very time Entergy is claiming a new policy of openness to Vermont State officials, boards, commissions, the legislature and the media, it has denied Leppzer permission to film the tour even though he is filming for CCTV Channnel 17 out of Burlington, VT in addition to his own documentary work.  Leppzer may, as Entergy’s Smith informed him, may take the tour, but without any film equipment, a predicament that is challenging for a filmmaker.  

Entergy’s action has once again put them in the spotlight in a negative way.  After being shut out of filming, Leppzer contacted State Representative Sarah Edwards from Brattleboro, who is a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel.  Edwards wrote to Entergy requesting that they reconsider their decision and give Leppzer equal access.  Smith still denied Leppzer access, so at that time, Leppzer sent the entire packet of email correspondence, herein reproduced below the fold, to the PSB.  

The PSB has given Entergy until noon today to explain why they are preventing Leppzer from filming.    

More below the fold, including the entire email correspondence between Leppzer and Entergy’s Smith.

I first met Leppzer in January when he was filming testimony given to the Natural Resources Committee regarding leaks at Vermont Yankee, and have seen him, along with many other members of the media, at almost every nuclear testimony and event I have attended since January from hearings to the NRC meeting in Brattleboro on April 19.  

I find the decision to exclude Leppzer as odd since this is a public meeting that includes the media.  While NRC Region 1 Spokesperson Neil Sheehan has denied me permission to be on the NRC email list and claimed that Green Mountain Daily is not bona-fide media, even the NRC allowed Leppzer to film their workshop and meeting. [As NRC and Entergy should be learning, attempting to shut out the media only results in more press and more scrutiny.]

In prior public touring events, for example the Stakeholder’s Meeting and press conference, which Entergy hosted at Vermont Yankee on March 25, 2010, a member in attendance wrote that

multiple media outlets were granted access to photograph, film, and videotape the plant.  The only restrictions on media coverage that day were that photographers could not shoot any of the security towers or security personnel. The media was walked from the Hunt House to the excavation area, then around the back of the plant to the area where dry casks are stored. Plant officials showed the media each of the well heads, including the drinking water well that had by then been removed from service. There were no restrictions on shooting any of these elements.

The PSB is having a formal public meeting tour because it is adjudicating a request by intervenors to shut down VY until the tritium leak, which was uncovered January 7, was stopped.  Entergy maintains that the source of the leak has been found and stopped.  The PSB, media, and intervenors were scheduled to have an opportunity to view the location of the leak on Thursday to see the repairs now that the leak has been stopped and the plant is shut down for refueling.

Leppzer appears to have followed every protocol required in order to film at VY, including registering with the Public Service Board, and filming for Burlington’s Channel 17 Public Access television in addition to using the footage for his own documentary.  See the entire chain of emails in the PDF below.

Leppzer began writing to Entergy’s PR Staff members Rob Williams and Larry Smith April 8 regarding the Entergy’s science fair hosted April 12 at the Ramada Inn.  On April 18, Leppzer wrote:

As I mentioned in a previous email, I’m directing and producing an independent documentary about nuclear power in the new millennium, highlighting the debate in Vermont over the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.  This will be a feature documentary intended for national broadcast on public television or a national cable network.  My previously produced documentaries and commissioned magazine segments have been broadcast nationally on PBS, CNN, CNN International, Cinemax, Sundance Channel and HDNet.

On Friday, I spoke with Judith Whitney, Deputy Clerk of the Vermont Public Service Board, and she informed me that the site visit by the Public Service Board to Vermont Yankee on April 29 is open to the press and media.

Below is information on our documentary television crew members, in accordance with Entergy regulations for people visiting the site.

——-

UPDATE #1 By the way if you look closely at Smith’s last email to Leppzer, you will

notice three items.  

First, it is clear that Smith is quite aware that Entergy is denying access to

Channel 17 CCTV Public Access TV.

Second, note that many upper management personnel at Entergy are contacted, not

just site personnel as well as someone with Enexus.  Isn’t Enexus defunct, or is

that another Entergy untruth?

Third, Smith has copied their attorney Downs, Rachlin and Martin’s John Marshall. I

guess Smith was clearly anticipating litigation push back.

From: “Smith, Laurence M”

Date: April 27, 2010 8:47:05 AM EDT

To: “Robbie Leppzer” robbie@turningtide.com

Cc: “Lozier, Glen” glozier@entergy.com, “Ryan, Patrick” pryan1@entergy.com,

“Patrick, John J” jpatric@entergy.com, “John Marshall” jmarshall@drm.com, “Glew,

William (Enexus)” william.glew@enexusenergy.com

Subject: RE: CCTV  Channel 17 Press Access to PSB Site Visit Requested

Robbie,

The decision by Entergy management stands. You and your crew will be allowed access to

the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant site for the purpose

of the PSB tour. Your cameras will not be allowed on the tour.

Thanks,

Larry

Laurence M. Smith

Manager of Communications

Leppzer Resume:


LeppzerResume2010

Leppzer Email Chronology


Leppzer filming VY chronology

—–

Update #2 Document: DRM to PSB


Dkt 7600 Letter to PSB re Site Visit 4-28-10  

9 thoughts on “Buried Pipes and Hidden Truth at Vermont Yankee – Entergy challenges PSB open meeting (updated 2X)

  1. what a sad little story

    some people / entities just can’t seem to survive without the arbitrary exercise of raw power

    for so many reasons, this company does not deserve to be part of our community

  2.  

    Entergy’s camera “caddy” will control all cameras and videocams.

    The Herald and the Brattleboro Reformer are the only news organizations signed up to cover the site visit. WCAX,BFP where are you ?

    And the Herald will not be sending a photographer due to the restriction that they say puts then ina position of giving control of there work to a censor.

    What happens if we get a photo of something embarrassing and newsworthy but not sensitive from a security standpoint? We’re not going to put ourselves into the position of giving a censor control over our work,” said Randal Smathers, the Herald’s editor, who said a news reporter would cover the PSB visit.

    http://www.rutlandherald.com/a

  3. How exactly would the Public Service Board members be “distracted” by Mr. Leppzer’s camera any more than all of the rest of the press in attendance?  Pretty weak argument.

    I suspect the Enexus reference is a sign that that little brainstorm is just on hold for a future, more politically conducive, occasion.  I’ll be baack.

Comments are closed.