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THE
FACTS |
Potassium Iodide (KI) available to Cape Cod and the Islands: Nearly 4 years after the law to distribute KI to these communities was enacted in Massachusetts, it is finally being implemented. Has your community
developed an implementation plan to stockpile KI in town schools,
pre-schools & day-care centers, shelters, group homes, nursing homes and
hospitals; and developed a public education strategy to inform the public
what KI does, how to get it, and where it should be kept at home? The Cape Codder Background:
State Legislation –
Potassium Iodide (KI) for Cape Cod and Cape Ann Where are the KI pills? Where are the KI pills? Cape Cod Times, July 13, 2005
By KEVIN DENNEHY For more than a year, the state Department of Public Health has been stalled because several towns were slow to formally request the supplies. And now that all the requests are in - and the state is finally sending out a $371,000 bill - there's no assurance that Entergy Corp., the only nuclear plant owner in Massachusetts, will pay it. For local leaders, who call the nonprescription drug a simple step to reduce risk if something were to go wrong at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, the delay has been utterly frustrating. If taken within a few hours of the release of nuclear radiation, potassium iodide, or KI, can reduce the chances of thyroid cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children, infants and fetuses are particularly sensitive to thyroid disease. Once the drugs are delivered to towns across the region, communities will keep them stored in schools and emergency centers. But the towns are still waiting. ''The whole process has been painfully slow,'' said state Rep. Matthew Patrick, D-Falmouth, who pushed the original legislation. ''It's almost sad, really. Thank God we haven't had any accidents in the meantime.'' Potassium iodide essentially blocks the absorption of radioactive iodine by flooding the thyroid with non-radioactive iodine so there is no room for the radioactive molecules. While potassium iodide would not protect humans from all threats of exposure to radioactivity, the National Academy of Sciences has recommended that the government make it available to all people under 40 who live near a nuclear power plant. The state of Massachusetts already provides KI pills to communities within 10 miles of nuclear power plants. Fifty-mile radius But the post-9/11 legislation, signed by former Gov. Jane Swift, expanded the reach of the law to include towns on Cape Cod and the islands, which are up to 50 direct miles from the nuclear plant in Plymouth. That coverage also includes Massachusetts towns on Cape Ann - including Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Essex - waterfront communities near the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire. Before distributing the drugs, however, the state DPH wanted to have all communities on board to make the best use of bulk purchases. ''It's really inefficient to do this piecemeal, one community at a time,'' Suzanne Condon, director of DPH Center for Emergency Preparedness, said yesterday. It has taken more than 1½ years - and numerous letters - to sign up all 27 affected communities. Only in the last few weeks did the state finally hear from Gloucester, the final town to respond. With that, the DPH today will send the $371,000 bill to Entergy to cover the costs of the KI supplies, Condon said. About $345,000 of that would go for KI supplies on Cape Cod. Condon had no comment on whether she expected Entergy to deliver payment. ''We're going to send the bill ... and we'll see what comes back.'' Entergy officials yesterday were noncommittal. Times have changed since the legislation was approved just a couple of years ago, said Carol Wightman, a spokeswoman for the Pilgrim plant in Plymouth. At that time, she said, most energy utilities in the state bought energy from Seabrook in New Hampshire. Now, they don't. Bill goes to Entergy And since Entergy owns the only nuclear plant in Massachusetts, the company would have to cover the bill, even though the Pilgrim plant is some 50 miles from Cape Ann. ''The entire burden for the funding of the KI would be placed on Entergy,'' Wightman said. ''We're looking at the current basis and validity of the assess-ment process being used for KI on the Cape and Seabrook,'' she said. Some towns are getting impatient. In Sandwich, for instance, it's been two years since town meeting voters endorsed the acceptance of KI tablets. And still nothing. ''We've been waiting here,'' said David Mason, the Sandwich health agent. He says he has had several conversations with the state about the town's KI supplies. ''We've been told, 'It's coming. It's coming' ... It's something I think we'd like to have resolved.''
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