Westchester County Executive Andy Spano says the county will stop taking part in emergency evacuation drills at Indian Point until the nuclear plant?s owner, Entergy, starts taking the drills more seriously.

Spano claims Entergy was not prepared for the latest test on Nov. 7. He says problems that occurred in an October practice were not corrected for the November drill. According to Westchester Emergency Services Commissioner Tony Sutton, the purpose of the drills is to find problems so they can be corrected. He also contends Entergy does not seem to taking them seriously.Spano has sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and FEMA informing them of the boycott. The letter states the county will not participate in any state and federal drills until Entergy improves its performance on emergency planning, the new sirens and a telephone hotline communication system.

Entergy spokesperson Jim Steets say the company takes emergency planning seriously at all its plants. He say the company's own internal critique of the Nov. 7 exercise showed none of the problems Spano and Sutton are claiming. Steets say he questions the county executive?s motives in announcing his concerns in a press release and not directly to the company.