5 cases confirmed at nuclear plant
38 employees or contractors in quarantine
LIMERICK » Exelon officials confirmed there have been five cases of COVID-19 among the more than 1,000 employees and contractors at the Limerick Generating Station, which is currently conducting a refueling outage.
“We can confirm that we have five cases of COVID-19 among our workforce. Two were last onsite prior to the outage and three have recently tested positive. All are receiving care, and we are thinking about our colleagues and wishing them a quick recovery,” Dave Marcheskie, communications manager at the Limerick Generating Station, confirmed for MediaNews Group.
Company officials previously said the first two cases of COVID-19 among the workforce at the plant had not been at the worksite since March 20. The refueling outage on Limerick Unit 1 began on March 27 and was scheduled to last 18 days, according to company officials.
“The outage is nearing the halfway point and the number of positive cases of COVID-19 at
Limerick remain very low,” Marcheskie said.
Outage workers and contractors arrived anywhere from a few days to a week prior to the outage to prepare, according to officials.
“Limerick Generating Station’s refueling outage requires significant additions to our workforce in order to execute the work safely. About 1,500 people from local union halls, other Exelon locations, and specialty contractors are needed to supplement the approximately 750 yeararound Limerick employees in order to execute the outage,” Marcheskie explained. “While the total number of additional workers required is approximately 1,500, no more than 750 or so are onsite at the same time due to shift schedules,” Marcheskie told MediaNews Group. Company officials said that as of April 6 there were 38 employees or contractors quarantined after the positive COVID-19 cases were identified.
Some elected officials, like state Senator Katie Muth (D-44th), had called on Exelon to work with federal, state, and county officials to create and implement a 14-day, controlled quarantine protocol for all contracted employees who participate in the outage work. Muth also called on Exelon to continue to fully compensate workers during that time and to cover all costs incurred by workers during the quarantine. In a letter sent to Exelon last week, Muth expressed concern that many of the workers would move on to additional refueling projects, such as the scheduled Beaver Valley refueling project in western Pennsylvania, as well as at other nuclear facilities across the country, and that without proper safety and quarantine measures, officials were risking “a massive spread of Covid-19 across this state and nation.” “Exelon cannot force contract workers to remain in the area after the outage against their will. We just do not have that authority,” Marcheskie responded in an additional virtual statement on the company’s web and social media sites. “Second, symptomatic and highrisk individuals are already prohibited from entering Limerick and anyone who develops symptoms during the outage is encouraged to go directly home, seek medical attention and self-quarantine. “Third, these workers are considered essential by the U.S. federal government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And just like
“We can confirm that we have five cases of COVID-19 among our workforce. Two were last on-site prior to the outage and three have recently tested positive.”
the first responders, health care workers and grocery store employees, these specialized workers perform tasks that are vital to the nation’s power grid and they must be released to perform similar work at other plants,” Marcheskie added.
Marcheskie also addressed the fears that some workers expressed to MediaNews Group last week. Those contractors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of losing their jobs, claimed they are “terrified” they’re working in a “breeding ground” for COVID-19 and expressed concerns about the company’s safety practices during the pandemic.
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 days before the March 27 outage began.
“As you know out there, these are scary times and Limerick’s outage workers are not immune to the concerns and fears expressed by other essential workers who are on the frontlines every day during the
Valerie Arkoosh said a socalled “event of public interest” alert was published on Friday, March 27 indicating the project was beginning that evening.
On March 31, Arkoosh revealed the county’s department of public safety received complaints that adherence to social distancing measures may not be occurring at the worksite.
At that time, Arkoosh said she was “deeply concerned” to learn that a number of the estimated 1,400 contract workers were staying at AirBnBs, private homes, campsites, hotels and other rental units in the Tri-county region.
The first cases of coronavirus were reported in the county on March 7 and county leaders expressed concerns that Exelon was bringing more than 1,000 workers into an area of community spread and placing the plant’s workforce and others in the community at risk.
It hasn’t been determined if any of the 15 positive cases of coronavirus identified in the Limerick community since the epidemic began can be traced to those positive workers at Exelon. County officials said Exelon is conducting its own contact tracing.
“I don’t know that we’ve really seen an uptick in Limerick per se but that’s really not the point. The contract workers are from all over the place and I still have not received a full list of where they’re all from. They’re staying all over the several county area and again, I don’t have the complete list of where they’re all staying. Of course they’re interacting with the 700-plus individuals that are the fulltime workforce at Limerick so I think what we would expect to see is a general increase in our numbers than what they would have been had this refueling been postponed,” Arkoosh said on Monday.
Marcheskie said company officials provide a daily update to county health officials. For confirmed cases, the company includes the worker’s last day on site and what officials are doing to notify and isolate any potentially exposed coworkers and disinfect any areas that may be affected, Marcheskie claimed.
“We have been notified that there are positives as well as individuals that are in quarantine because of exposure to positives or because they have symptoms,” Arkoosh said on Monday, adding if company officials did not make the information public she would do so.
Addressing those in the Limerick area who expressed concern that the ongoing work will bring more cases of COVID-19 to the area Marcheskie said, “We do understand and appreciate the concern but please know that no sick, symptomatic
“Social distancing is an ever present challenge and we continue to look for ways to improve every task, every shift, every day.”
- Dave Marcheskie, communications manager at the Limerick Generating Station
“Exelon cannot force contract workers to remain in the area after the outage against their will. We just do not have that authority.”
- Dave Marcheskie, communications manager at the Limerick Generating Station