Los Alamos National Laboratory - Slow to Compensate Victims of radioactive/toxic materials

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Report: Lab slow on compensation

By JEFF TOLLEFSON/The New Mexican March 19, 2002

More than 350 people with ties to Los Alamos National Laboratory have filed

claims under a federal compensation program for people who became ill or

died working with radioactive and toxic materials at nuclear-weapons

facilities, but only a few of those have been paid, according to a report by

local worker advocates.

To read the full report online, click here.

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" The bottom line is the program is not yet benefiting people in New Mexico, "

said Ken Silver, a consultant working on the Los Alamos Project on Worker

Safety, an effort by various local organizations to oversee implementation

of the compensation program. Silver spoke during a news conference with Los

Alamos employees and others in Española on Monday.

Ill workers who qualify are eligible to receive $150,000 plus reimbursements

for medical expenses. Survivors of people who died as a result of their

illnesses are eligible for the $150,000.

At Los Alamos, 189 claims involve cancer; 37 relate to problems from

exposure to beryllium; 27 cite renal disorders; and 90 are linked to various

lung conditions, according to the report, released by the union representing

lab employees, Citizens for LANL Employee Rights and El Rio Arriba

Environmental Health Association.

In all, more the 400 people in New Mexico have submitted claims under the

Energy Employees Illness Compensation Program, which was signed into law in

the fall of 2000. Those claims include 43 people at Sandia, eight at the Los

Alamos Medical Center and two at the South Albuquerque Works, a small

nuclear facility that ceased operation in 1967. Federal officials say four

claims have been paid in New Mexico; a fifth has been approved.

The federal government has paid the most claims - 168 people - at Oak Ridge

National Laboratory, one of four facilities that received blanket coverage

for a suite of 21 cancers. Exposed workers who develop any of these cancers

receive compensation, no questions asked. At these four sites, according to

Silver, worker advocates successfully argued that the government did not

properly warn employees of the hazards, monitor those hazards or take proper

precautions to prevent problems.

This was a theme at Monday's news conference. Former employees with various

health problems said Los Alamos has also failed to inform workers of the

dangers of certain chemicals, keep accurate records and properly document

accidents in the past.

" Why is Los Alamos so slow (to compensate ill workers)? It's not because our

radiation is less toxic, " said Theresa Connaughton, vice president

of University Professional and Technical Employees, the union that

represents Los Alamos lab employees.

The union is recommending that all Los Alamos employees who have been

exposed to toxins file a claim now, even though cancers, lung diseases and

other illnesses might not show up for years. Despite assurances from lab

officials that such an action would not result in retaliation, Connaughton

and others said many employees don't file claims for fear of losing their

jobs.

The compensation program also includes a petition process that would allow

individual workers - or a group of workers at Los Alamos, for example -

blanket cancer coverage like that provided at Oak Ridge, but that portion of

the program has not been implemented. Monday's report recommends that the

National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety expedite that process.

Congress and the Clinton administration set up two primary tracks in the

2000 legislation: One, operated by the U.S. Department of Labor, primarily

addressed health problems caused by radiation and beryllium. The Department

of Energy runs the other half, designed as a catch-all for workers affected

by such toxins as solvents, acids, asbestos, mercury and other heavy metals.

In both cases, worker advocates say, the federal government seems to be

dragging its feet.

The Department of Labor has yet to release a rule that would set out a

process for examining claims of cancer and beryllium disease, like those

filed at Los Alamos. For its part, the DOE came under heavy criticism last

fall for proposing to require that all claimants to the federal program

first qualify under individual state programs, which activists said misses

the point of creating a federal program. The DOE program would establish a

panel of physicians to evaluate claims. Those rules have yet to be released.

The University of California, which operates Los Alamos, also raised the ire

of local activists by arguing that it should be exempted from this portion

of the program, since state workers compensation programs are already in

place. Monday's report recommends that the DOE make the University of

California subject to the law like other DOE contractors.

The report also criticized the General Accounting Office for failing to meet

its Congressional mandate to issue a report on implementation of the program

by Feb. 1.

Activist groups further requested that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and U.S.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., hold a public meeting to discuss implementation

of the compensation program. Representatives of both Bingaman and Udall said

they plan to hold such a meeting this spring.