Exelon putting refueling workers, community at risk

Exelon’s refusal to postpone a refueling project at the Limerick Generating Station is of deep concern.

We are reminded daily that following the protocols of social distancing is a matter of life and death in this pandemic.

Thus, learning of Exelon’s refusal to postpone a refueling project at the Limerick Generating Station is of deep concern.

The company brought between 950 and 1,400 workers from other localities to the tricounty area for its annual refueling project.

Montgomery County Commissioners asked the company to postpone the refueling before it began in March, and they refused, claiming it was necessary for power to the region through the summer and that it could be managed with proper precautions.

But in interviews with MediaNews Group reporter Carl Hessler Jr., workers say those precautions were not followed.

The workers interviewed claimed that social distancing measures of standing at least six-feet apart, which have repeatedly been recommended by health officials during the outbreak, were not in place at the plant as they initially reported for their jobs in March.

Refueling was scheduled to start March 30, according to officials, but workers arrived at the site for training before that date. By mid-March, cases of COVID-19 were already being reported in Montgomery County ahead of other areas in Pennsylvania. County officials were adamant in emphasizing the importance of social distancing. Schools were already closed.

“From the first day I got there, there were no less than 100 people in the training room being processed. I have pictures from that day of people literally sitting on top of each other, no one enforcing social distancing,” one worker told MediaNews Group.

Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh last week said county commissioners first learned about “a long scheduled maintenance operation” at the Limerick plant on March 16 and demanded to see Exelon’s pandemic response site plan. County officials concluded the plan was not adequate for the COVID-19 pandemic and asked Exelon to postpone the refuel until such time when the disease burden from the virus was lower in Montgomery and Chester counties. She said they refused.

Dave Marcheskie, communications manager Exelon at the

Limerick plant, released a statement last week saying the company is “doing everything possible to keep our workers and host communities safe.” He said the company did not have the luxury of postponing the outage because the plant’s power is vital to the region’s hospitals, emergency response centers and essential businesses.

Arkoosh said she was “deeply concerned” that contract workers were staying at AirBnBs, private homes, campsites, hotels and other rental units in the tri-county region.

“… As we pointed out from the beginning, they were coming into an area of community spread here in Montgomery County. It puts at risk the people in our community, the workforce that is in Limerick every day, our critical workforce that keeps that very important plant running,” Arkoosh said.

“I’m speaking about this publicly because not only do I believe that the people here in southeastern Pennsylvania have a right to know about this but I hope that this is a cautionary note to wherever they are going next,” she added.

She also mentioned potential risk to first responders. “We have a lot of people who are sworn to run into the Limerick Generating Station if there’s ever an accident. Many of those individuals are volunteer firefighters and I think our community deserves to be treated better than this.” We agree.

The refueling project brought workers into our region amidst dire warnings about the spread of the coronavirus, and Exelon has not provided adequate assurances that they are following the protocols to slow that spread.

Our immediate concerns are for the safety of workers and everyone – from clerks at Wawa to other plant employees – who have been around them during a time of potential exposure to COVID-19.

Our larger concern is directed at Exelon for refusing to postpone the refueling and then failing to provide Montgomery County officials with accurate and timely information and enforce social distancing.

“We’re all in this together” is not merely a slogan; it’s the means to survive – and together means Exelon working with county health department leaders to keep people safe.

To date, that hasn’t happened. Our community, indeed, deserves to be treated better.