KYW Flashback: 17 Years Of Hearings And Debates Can't Keep The Limerick Nuclear Plant From Going On-Line
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- In February of 1986, nearly 30 years ago, KYW reported on the cooling tower cloud that rose over rural Limerick Township in Western Montgomery County.
Philadelphia Electric had battled with environmentalists and local residents for 17 years to bring the Limerick Nuclear Generating Station on-line. Countless days were spent at packed hearings as opponents argued that the Schuylkill River would become toxic, the Delaware River severely drained, the surrounding area would suffer from radiation, property values would plummet and the township would become a ghost town.
The 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island lent urgency to their arguments. But PECO prevailed. The plant became operational and KYW was tapped as the emergency radio station to alert the surrounding area of a complex evacuation plan in the event of an accident.
It has never been activated.
But in that time, Limerick has become one of the regions fastest growing areas with new housing developments, a major outlet center, golf courses and route 422, jammed from the day it opened.