Testimony of David K. Hackett
David K. Hackett, PE
6500 Trousdale Road
Knoxville, TN 37921
(865) 691-7835
<minwells@mail.tds.net>
March 22, 2000
Senator Fred Thompson
Chairman Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Re: Testimony before the Senate Government Affairs Committee on Health & Safety at the Oak Ridge DOE Operations.I always appreciate an opportunity to have some imput to our government. The average citizen has become quite disenfranchised in this era of big money lobbying, and obviously is not foremost in consideration when many of our laws are conceived. However, here is a situation where the Congress has an opportunity to right a grave injustice to a group of citizens that have given more than most to our Nation. The Cold War Veterans gave their best to support this country, and while wages were good, that in no way justifies the lies, deceit, and poisoning exposures they received to keep this nation's nuclear capability at the forefront. This all seems to have reach the general consensus point.
As both a health impacted worker and a DOE whistleblower, I, like many of my coworkers are well aware this is a very large problem. I have watched as the government has thrown a few paltry crumbs to the aid of the Uranium mine workers with RCRA, and the Atomic Vets, and then pronounced the job done, even though most of the impacted went uncompensated. Worse they went with out health care! Now RCRA has been expanded, but is out of funds. Congress needs a real solution, not just window-dressing guilt payments. $100,000 is an insult to the really sick who have lost much more. Others could be treated for much less, especially if a team of knowledgeable specialist treated them.
What I believe is more sensible is environmental health clinics locally run by and funded by an endowment at each of the DOE impacted sites. Something more in keeping with Black Lung and the Veteran's Hospitals, but without the big bureaucracies -- at least as a choice to the paltry sum offered. At such clinics all workers could be evaluated, and data could be retrieved to replace the out-moded radiation exposure model of Hiroshima, as well as learning about the subtle toxicities of other chemicals.
I also wish to state emphatically that much of the exposures, transgressions, wasteful spending, and boondoogles for which DOE has become renown, would never have existed if there were outside oversight. Our government was created with "checks and balances" by our wise forefathers. DOE was created under duress of war, and endowed as self-policing entity. While this may have been prudent during the War, it has become cause for great concern for the ongoing health and safety, as well as waste of our National resources. Here in Oak Ridge DOE appointed an engineer as guardian of the workers health and safety, and then punished him for raising concerns. He is now a six time prevailer as a whistleblower, but still they try to silence him. I speak of my colleague, Joe Carson, PE. DOE would have you believe that all their transgressions are in the past, but they have been beating that dead horse for ten years. I assure you that nothing will change at DOE until they have outside accountability--the old adage about absolute power has been proven over and over in this corrupt Agency.
Please do not give us any more well meaning and vacuous laws or platitudes. Give us back out dignity; give us a chance to regain our health and earning potential. Give us an Agency with some compassion and accountability. I do not believe that is too much to ask of a government that is willing to spend billions of dollars on cleaning up the environment (ostensibly to protect the health of its people), but has refused to help those whose health it took surreptitously--especially since this is a government that is portrayed as by and for the people. A government that send millions to help people in foreign lands, surely cannot neglect its own people who have given their all to make this Nation great.
Sincerely, David K. Hackett, PE