Letter to the Editor of the Denver Post by Glenn Bell
Re: Denver Post Editorial
May 7, 2000Dear Editor:
This editorial echoes what I'm hearing from dozens of affected present and former workers at the DOE sites not being considered in the compensation proposal. Affected community residents are not even mentioned in the proposal. Also, almost no one, with the possible exception of some of the widows and widowers of victims, accepts the administration's plan of $100K OR medical benefits, as sufficient. A single hospital stay for a seriously-ill beryllium victim will wipe out the funds, leaving no money or insurance.
Proper monetary compensation plus lifetime medical is what we of the victims' groups are trying to acheive.A group from Oak Ridge left this morning to plea to this end before Congress. The ill workers from Oak Ridge have impressive documentation of the work-relatedness of their ills, as do many from other sites. The acceptance of beryllium disease as occupational has been a fact for years. DOE's Secretary Richardson admitted on national television of production being put above worker safety, by the DOE's "cutting a deal" with beryllium producers (ABC 20/20, 4-19-00). Was this possibly done with other suppliers and contractors as well? Some trust has been restored by individuals within the Department of Energy, and for these we are grateful. We are now looking to the DOE and Congress to truly "do the right thing".
Glenn Bell
Beryllium Victims Alliance
504 Michigan Ave.
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
865-482-7641Contacts and Resources:
"To know is terrifying, but to not know may be fatal."- Helen Caldicott