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Friends, Note that this is in the Saturday edition, the least-read day
of the week!? J Regards, Jim Muckerheide =================== Calvert Residents Content In Nuclear
Plant's Shadow By Amit
R. Paley [Photo
caption] Pete Dahlberg barely glanced at the signs as he floated a few hundred
feet from the plant in his 21-foot motorboat, Runaway Ruthy, with his
8-year-old son, Nick, in tow. They hooked six-inch, neon-green lures onto their
poles and cast them into the "You
can't beat the nuclear power plant as a fishing spot," said Dahlberg, 41,
a fishing guide who goes by the name Walleye Pete and has lived for five years
in Such warm
feelings for the plant have transformed Calvert into something of a national
anomaly: a community that has developed a love affair with what hundreds of
other cities and towns have long regarded as, at best, an eyesore and at worst,
a life-threatening menace. Residents
of this Locals
here quickly rattle off the plant's benefits: It's the county's largest
taxpayer, biggest private employer and, of course, a top-notch fishing hole. Almost no
one worries about the possibility of accidents or radiation leaks. "It
doesn't even, like, cross my mind," said Roxanne Arellano, 18, of Lusby.
"You kind of don't think about it. It's just there, I guess." That sort
of blase attitude might seem strange to those who began to fear nuclear plants
after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in But those
negative images couldn't seem more off base to Arellano and the other 60 or so
locals who spent a recent scorching afternoon at a swimming pool for Calvert
Cliffs employees and their families on the nuclear plant's 2,300-acre grounds.
Babies in diapers tottered by the edge of the 82.5-foot-long pool, which is
ringed by a barbed-wire fence. Girls in bikinis baked in the sun. Arellano slid
into the pool to teach the children of plant employees how to tread water and
do the backstroke. The kids
splashed in the water, seemingly unconcerned about the two nearby reactors
spitting out 1,700 megawatts of power. Eight-year-old McKenzie Turpin, though,
had a gripe: She is not allowed to go to the plant on Take Our Daughters to
Work Day with her mom because of extra security since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks. "She doesn't like it that President Bush won't let mommy take her
to work," said Raeann Turpin, 33, a computer analyst at the plant who
lives in Huntingtown. Few
people in When
Calvert Cliffs went online in 1975, the county's total budget was $6.6 million.
The plant's $6.8 million tax payment the following year more than doubled
Calvert's revenue. "We
went almost overnight from being the second-poorest county in The
nuclear plant, which is owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, pays
about $15.3 million in property taxes -- about 10 percent of the county's
revenue -- and employs about 1,000 workers. A third reactor could add as many
as 400 jobs and millions in tax revenue. That's
why county officials were thrilled to learn in May that Calvert Cliffs is one
of six sites that the nation's largest consortium of nuclear power companies is
considering for a new type of advanced reactor. The consortium, NuStart Energy
Development LLC, plans to narrow that list to two sites by Oct. 1 and apply to
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licenses to build and operate plants
there. The group hopes the reactors will be operational by 2014. Sipping
from a marble-colored coffee mug emblazoned with the Constellation logo, Board
of County Commissioners President David F. Hale (R-Owings) called for a
resolution last month in support of a third reactor in the county. It was
approved unanimously by the five-member board. Not a single person spoke in
opposition. Board
members also praised the plant's outreach to the community. Calvert Cliffs said
its employees raised $330,351 for local charities last year and volunteered
4,300 hours of time, many of which were logged teaching public school students
about the plant. "I
do a pro-nuclear power session," said Elizabeth McAndrew, 26, a senior
engineer at the plant who is one of 32 Calvert Cliffs employees who tutored and
taught in the county's public schools. The
nuclear plant also distributes coloring books about electricity to elementary
school children. As they
drifted in the "Do
they think that Homer Simpson's up in the place running it?" he asked. Whatever
their view of the plant, outsiders continue to come for the fish at Calvert
Cliffs -- some from as far as On a
recent morning when temperatures pushed past 84 degrees, the Dahlbergs pulled
up to the huge stream of water being discharged from the plant, which local
anglers have nicknamed "the river" or "the rips." It reeked
of sulfur. The
boat's electronic fish finder lit up. "Look at that. That's fish!"
Dahlberg yelled to Nick. "They're thick under the boat, buddy. You have
about a 20-incher chasing your lure!" Suddenly
Nick, in a tiny, red life vest, lurched forward as he began reeling in a catch.
"Good job, buddy," his father shouted. The two high-fived in the air. "It's
fun here," Nick said. "It's easier to catch fish than other
places." Then Nick
pointed at the nuclear power plant and asked: "Dad, what do they do in
there?" "They
make electricity, so you can play your PlayStation," Dahlberg replied. Staring
down at his untied white sneakers, Nick said, "Ohhhhhhh." Then he
grabbed a shiny lure off the deck and tried to catch another rockfish. © 2005 The
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