SONGS electricity; more pollution was caused by the use of natural gas plants to make up for the lost power generation, and additional cost led to higher utility bills. NRC, SCE and public response In March 2012, the NRC forbade the plant to be reopened until the causes of its equipment problems were thoroughly understood and fixed. At the same time, Irvine Councilman Larry Agran called for the plant to be decommissioned safely and as soon as possible. Concerns included "nuclear waste stored at the plant, health hazards from radioactive material, and inadequate evacuation plans". Resolutions passed in neighboring cities Laguna Beach and San Clemente called for safer and more secure nuclear waste storage. San Clemente voted to request public information about radiation levels near the plant. The spokesman for Edison International said "the company will work to prepare detailed responses to council and community member questions and concerns". In June 2012 the environmental group Friends of the Earth filed a legal petition with the NRC, asking that any decision to restart SONGS be considered a de facto NRC license amendment which required a public hearing, rather than a decision by the NRC commissioners. Friends of the Earth submitted evidence and sworn statements of John Large of the London-based nuclear consulting engineers Large & Associates, demonstrating that the steam generating tube degradation was a generic fault of the Mitsubishi design and that Edison's power derating of the two nuclear units would not lower the rate of wear or the risk of catastrophic tube failure. SCE and NRC staff filed statements opposing the petition. In July 2012, the NRC's final report identified ten issues that needed followup and stated "the plant will not be permitted to restart until the licensee has developed a plan to prevent further steam generator tube degradation and the NRC independently verifies that it can be operated safely." , the cost related to the shutdown had reached $165 million, with $117 million of that being the purchasing of power from other sources to replace the output of the plant. The Chairman of Edison International Ted Craver stated the possibility that reactor 3 might be scrapped as "It is not clear at this time whether Unit 3 will be able to restart without extensive additional repairs". In August 2012, Southern California Edison announced plans to lay off one-third, or 730, of the plants employees; the company said that