Radioactive water was discharged into New York’s Hudson River for more than 60 years, with millions of gallons released annually during its decades of operation.
The long-running practice at the now-defunct Indian Point nuclear plant is drawing renewed scrutiny after a 2025 court approved a controversial plan to release an additional 45,000 gallons of radioactive water per year from the shuttered facility.
The Daily Mail has uncovered a 1970 federal investigation showing the plant discharged an average of two to three million gallons of processed wastewater each year between 1962 and 2021, including treated radioactive effluents.
The probe into the plant’s environmental impact found that millions of fish were killed during its early years, largely after being pulled into the facility’s cooling system.
Investigators also documented chemical discharges that exceeded state safety limits and warned that gaps in monitoring made it impossible to rule out toxic releases that may have contributed to fish kills.
Testing conducted near the plant further detected measurable increases in radioactivity in water, sediment, vegetation and fish closest to discharge areas.
The findings, combined with a newly circulated stakeholder letter from the plant’s current owner, Holtec International, confirming decades of releases, have intensified concerns about the long-term environmental impact on the Hudson River.
Patrick O’Brien, director of government affairs and communications for Holtec International, which purchased the plant in 2021, told the Daily Mail: ‘I can’t speak to operations, since that covers previous owners to the ’60s.’
‘During our ownership, no releases have occurred exceeding federal limits, and every batch is tested and reviewed prior to dilution and discharge.’
The Indian Point nuclear power plant is located along the Hudson River just south of Peekskill. Holtec International purchased the facility shortly after its closure and now oversees its decommissioning, including the handling of stored wastewater and spent nuclear fuel.
A recently circulated letter to stakeholders confirmed that treated radioactive wastewater had been discharged into the Hudson River since the plant’s earliest years, with annual environmental and radiation reports submitted to federal regulators.
Those records indicate that radioactive materials, including tritium and other radionuclides, were diluted and released into the river following treatment processes designed to remove most contaminants before discharge.
Federal investigators first examined concerns about the plant’s environmental impact decades ago, launching a detailed study in 1970 amid growing public alarm about the effects of nuclear facilities along the Hudson River.
While the investigation found no clear evidence that radioactive releases alone caused widespread ecosystem collapse, it documented significant environmental impacts tied to plant operations.
Among the most notable findings was the death of large numbers of fish during the plant’s early years.
Between 1962 and 1970, officials estimated that between 1.5 million and five million fish were killed after becoming trapped against intake screens used to draw cooling water from the river.
The report also warned that fish eggs, larvae and other small aquatic organisms were likely harmed as they passed through the plant’s cooling systems.
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