Testimony of Rose Marshall

Rose Marshall
2323 Wilson Road
Apt. J22
Knoxville, TN 3791

Senator Fred Thompson

Chair, Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
United States Senate
523 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510

March 18, 2000

Senator Thompson,

I have been informed that your Oversight Subcommittee will be holding hearings in Washington, D.C. on March 22, 2000.   I am not able to attend the hearings due to ill health and cost.  If possible, please include this letter in the official record of the hearing.

As a disabled former employee of Lockheed Martin Energy Systems at both the K-25 Site and the Y-12 Plant, I have definite concerns about illnesses caused by my employment. While employed at the K-25 Site during the period 2 December 1991 - March 1996 I was employed as a Computing Technician for the Analytical Services Organization.  The buildings where I had offices included K-1004 B, C, and D and K-1006.

My office in K-1006 was directly above the Asbestos Labs.  In K-1004-B I worked in the basement directly beside a lab and an old shower facility that was contaminated and later refurbished into a lab.  In K-1004-C our break room was directly beneath a Plating Lab (which required the workers to wear protective garments).  The break room (where the building employees ate lunch) was shut down several times during my employment due to Radiation Contamination and at one point even the fixtures (sink, etc.) and all the furniture replaced due to the contamination.

During the period that I had an office in K-1004-D, my office was located in the area of the Organic Chemistry Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrography (GCMS) Labs. These labs analyzed PCBs, Herbicides, and Pesticides.  In these labs heat was a major factor due to the machines running 24 hours per day and on MANY occasions the doors were left open to the labs to cool down the room.  On these occasions fumes permeated the building, and my office was located amongst two prep labs and one GC, one GCMS, and one Prep lab.

All of these labs used a variety of acids, bases, and solvents in processing and prep and the fumes were almost constant occurrences.  The break room in this building was previously a plating lab.  The hoods in the K-1004-D building were so old that they only operated at 30% capacity and were vented to the attic; thus, allowing dangerous fumes to spread throughout the building.

The GC machines in these labs were vented to room air.  For example, when PCBs are heated to high temperatures to allow them to be analyzed as gases, those gases contain Dioxin.

As a result of my daily exposures to this environment I am on Long Term Disability.  The conditions that have been diagnosed to this point are: Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Chronic Asthmatic Bronchitis, Asthma, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Inflammatory Arthritis, Dementia, Depression, and Hypertension. Also I was diagnosed with Bi-Lateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to my job. I am participating in the Worker Health Protection Program at DOE Gaseous Diffusion Plants being conducted by Dr. Steven Markowitz, M.D., Queens College, NY.

I have received a preliminary report from Dr. Markowitz which states that I have decreased sensations in both legs, breathing test was abnormal, hearing test was abnormal.  The results indicate that my Chronic Bronchitis can be caused by occupational exposure to certain agents, my hearing loss could also be attributed to noise exposure at the Gaseous Diffusion Plant.  I still have not received my Beryllium blood test and x-ray results as both tests had to be repeated.  My breathing abnormalities were mixed. They cannot determine the exact nature of the problem from the screening.  Dr. Markowitz recommended that I see a Pulmonary Specialist to help ascertain, based on exposure levels, if the COPD is work related.

Previous to my employment at K-25, I had no asthmatic conditions, lung problems, fibromyalgia symptoms, carpal tunnel problems, or hearing loss.  I am firmly convinced that my illnesses are a direct result of my workplace exposures.  I am also convinced that the age of the buildings in which I worked were also a contributing factor due to “sick building syndrome”.

I filed for Workmen’s Compensation and Social Security Disability.  My Workmen’s Compensation Claim for Carpal Tunnel was denied and the Workmen’s Compensation Claim for my general health problems wasn’t even responded to by Lockheed Martin’s Workmen’s Compensation representative agency. Due to the non-response in this matter I was forced to file a lawsuit for Workmen’s Compensation.  My Social Security Disability claim was denied twice, the last time as a result of an administrative hearing, and is under appeal.

My Lockheed Martin Long Term Disability is reviewable every year and many folks are losing it.  I am a single mom, with one child in college and this is my only source of income.  I am presently on 20 separate medications, which are very costly despite the fact that we have insurance coverage, which are simply to keep me stable and functioning.

I appreciate you holding these hearings.  I sincerely hope that they are the first steps in resolving the problems and health issues that all workers at DOE sites face.  I look forward to a favorable outcome for those of us who are not only fighting health problems, but also being forced to fight for the rights that we should already have and financial stability.

Thank you for this opportunity.

Rose M. Marshall