Testimony for the U.S. Senate Government Affairs Committee Hearing on Safety and Health at DOE's K-25 and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion PlantsMarch 22, 2000
By Janet R. Michel Knoxville, TennesseeMy Story
My name is Janet Michel. I was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. My parents both worked on the Oak Ridge Reservation. My Mom worked at K-25 during the war in a laboratory and in office buildings, including K-1001. She worked there until she was a few months pregnant with me in 1951. When her children were older, she returned to work at ORNL. My Dad worked as a chemical engineer at K-25 from 1944 until about 1960 and then at ORNL until he died in 1986. He was assigned to the Australian Atomic Energy Commission to help them build a research reactor in the mid-1960s and we lived in the suburbs of Sydney for 1.5 years. We regularly had professionals from all over the world coming home for dinner, both in Australia and in Oak Ridge. I was always so proud of my Dad and proud to have grown up in Oak Ridge. The schools were very good and it was a safe place in some ways. There wasn't much crime and we were allowed to ride our bikes everywhere. We had woods and streams (like East Fork Poplar Creek where millions of pounds of mercury was lost) to play in. We caught tadpoles, built dams and went wading in East Fork Poplar Creek during the years that had the highest readings of mercury. We ate snow cream every time it snowed, only to discover later that this snow probably had arsenic and chromium in it, and "who know what else." But, I loved my hometown and was proud of it. I feel differently now.
I graduated from the University of Tennessee and lived in Knoxville off and on since then. I have also lived and worked in New Orleans, Cleveland, northern New Jersey, and the Washington, D.C. area. I taught 7th grade science in Oak Ridge and worked for Oak Ridge Associated Universities in an energy education program where I traveled around the country, teaching, lecturing, and doing science demonstrations for people from kindergarten to senior citizens. I covered all aspects of energy, from modes of electricity generation, politics and economics, and technical aspects, always tailored to my audience. I worked as a project manager and consultant for utilities in New Jersey. I worked as a program manager and consultant to utilities in New Jersey. Later, I worked as a DOE consultant "translating" technical on high level radioactive waste, alternative uses of nuclear energy, transportation documents written by scientists and engineers at DOE facilities and re-writing them to be understood by managers or the public. I was frequently called upon to travel for DOE meetings across the country. Consequently, I personally gained a very broad perspective on the DOE operations. Then I came to Martin Marietta (later Lockheed Martin) as a pollution prevention project manager where I worked for six years. Part of that time was at the Department of Energy K-25 site. I also worked 2.5 years at DOE headquarters in Washington, DC. Basically, I supported the building of the Department's pollution prevention (P2) program. Again, I traveled and toured extensively around the DOE complex, managed the production of technical pollution prevention DOE-wide conferences, wrote technical documents, as well as many other duties including strategic planning for the Department's P2 program. For a year and a half, I was housed at K-25 in an office located on a former industrial shop floor in a building where nickel and beryllium had been processed. It was an industrial operation building and I was housed in an area that was never designed to be office space. My job did not require that I am at the K-25 site every day, but as a "cost-cutting measure," office workers were housed in old buildings, instead of clean office space off-site.
One night, I was working later as was typical, and a custodian came by a huge HEPA vacuum cleaner and asked me to leave my office for a few minutes. He told me he was vacuuming out nickel dust from the air handling vents in my office. I then began to notice that my office was quite dusty especially after a weekend. Every surface was covered with a very fine gray dust, including my desk where I often ate lunch! When I moved to an off-site office, the security folks vacuumed out my computer's CPU. I still did not connect any health problems with these activities.
Prior to working in this building, my health was excellent. I was an athlete working out in the gym several times a week. I was an avid whitewater kayaker, cross-country skier, and bicyclist. I was a certified whitewater kayak instructor, president and newsletter editor of the local clubs, and manager of canoe and kayak school (with over 100 students). My vacations were spent kayaking in Costa Rica and out west and cross-country skiing in Yellowstone. At work, I was an awarded and rewarded employee. I worked many hundreds of hours of uncompensated overtime. I traveled frequently and on demand. I got the highest possible rating for employee performance and got raises and promotions during the time of downsizing AND during the time that I was getting more and more sick. The wall in my office was covered with P2 awards, from the Federal Environmental Executive, the Secretary of Energy, the Operations Office Manager, and at all management levels in between to my immediate supervisor.
I don't tell all of this to brag. It is presented here only to show that I was not a couch potato, a malingerer, or a disgruntled employee!
While at K-25, I became more and more ill, but continued to work for three years. My supervisor even took me aside one day to say in a half joking/half serious way that if I didn't find out what was wrong and do something to get better, he was going to "kidnap" me and take me to the Mayo Clinic to get help! Through speaking with work colleagues, I discovered that I had all of the symptoms of cyanide poisoning. I asked my family doctor to test for it and we discovered that I had slightly elevated urine thiocyanate levels. When I reneged on an agreement with my Division Director to write a P2 paper for a conference because of my failing health, she said "Janet, get out of there; get your --- back over here" (to an off-site office). Even several months later after moving off site, I was not feeling better although the thiocyanate levels had dropped to zero. More tests were conducted and I discovered that I had nickel and mercury poisoning and a host of other medical problems.
In 1996, I missed one third of the year due to illness and doctor's appointments, but my work did not suffer because I worked even harder at nights and on weekends to keep up. On my last business trip, I became so ill that I ended up in the emergency room and missed about half of the event. After becoming extremely ill when a large report was due, I realized that I was becoming a burden on my work colleagues. My doctor took me out on short-term disability at the end of 1996.
I exhausted those short-term disability benefits in June 1997 and applied for long term disability. But after eighteen months of denials and appeals and no income, I began to be suspicious that the denials may have been retaliation for my open questioning and criticism of DOE's operations. Lockheed Martin's insurance carrier, Metlife, had denied my application for the last time (I had no appeals left) and I was told to report to Y-12 Medical for a determination as to whether I was "fit to return to work." I asked the Benefits Manager for a copy of the records Metlife had so I could assemble any missing pieces. I was told that these records had already been sent to Y-12 Medical WITHOUT my permission! I remarked that I was not happy with this action. We agreed to go ahead and set up an appointment for me. About a week later, I received a phone call with the news that Y-12 Medical had reviewed everything (but not seen or examined me) and yet had determined that I was, in fact, disabled. I received a check retroactive for 18 months. It was wonderful to pay off the credit cards that I had been buying food and medicine on!
It was really difficult for me to acknowledge that my workplace could have made me sick, because I had believed without a doubt that my employers were providing me with a safe workplace. In some instances, managers were those folks who went to our church, who were guests in my parents' house, and were parents of my best friends. Consequently, I was in denial and it took me almost a year to accept that I did not get my illness anywhere else but at work. It also took a lot of research on my part and with the help of friends on the health effects of toxicants to convince myself. As a white-collar worker, I SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN PLACED IN HARM'S WAY! I believe that it is criminal that I was allowed to work in a toxic environment.
My immune system is dysfunctional; I am autoimmune. I have had elevated white blood cells and low immune factors which no one can explain. I have chronic, debilitating fatigue. I have a hypersensitive central nervous system that causes chronic, constant pain. I have right frontal lobe brain damage and memory loss. I have been diagnosed with sleep disorders and asthma. In 1995, I was found to have 40% pulmonary function. I have frequent migraine headaches. I have an unexplainable skin condition. My dermatologist calls me "the mystery lady." The last time a 24-hour urine test was performed, it was found that I had nickel 26 over the normal range. I have had three lumps removed from my breasts. I have had thyroid antibodies and vitiligo (an autoimmune condition). The only other blood relative to me who has vitiligo is an aunt who worked on the calutrons at Y-12 during World War II.
The schedule I must follow to avoid collapse is as follows. If I spend 30 minutes on housework, I must then lie down and rest for 30 minutes. If I go for a very slow walk in my neighborhood to try to get some exercise, I must immediately rest for an equal period of time. I am able to do 3 or 4 of these cycles of activity followed by rest in one day. If I try to push myself beyond that I literally collapse.
Needless to say, I am now unable to work or play. My life is one of almost constant frustration with days spent seeing doctors, fighting the medical and disability insurance companies, filling out forms and writing appeals for payment and compensation, and trying to maintain a semblance of a normal life. The smallest daily chores and errands exhaust me. Vacations are fruitless. About half of the time, I end up in urgent care. Any recreational or social activity must be preceded and followed by several days of rest and a lot of assistance from family and friends. There is very little in my life that is fun or brings me happiness. I have to believe it is all for a reason - that I will learn from this and be a better person. I have always been a very happy, optimistic person and I would like to be a productive one some time in the future or what is the use in living?
In January 1996, I heard through a work colleague who was also a sick employee about a support group and I began attending meetings. We became the Coalition for a Healthy Environment. CHE is incorporated as a non-profit in the State of Tennessee. We are a group of employees, former employees, area residents and other concerned citizens who meet on a regular basis to assist each other with all the burdens associated with declining health, disability, and whistleblowing. We have had over 300 people contact our organization for help and information. The educational and technical background of our core membership includes a diverse background-from blue-collar lab technicians; security guards; secretaries; hazardous waste samplers; supervisors; health physicists technicians; to white-collar managers; public information specialists; engineers; scientists in the disciplines of toxicology; biology, and physics; environmental science; exercise physiology; environmental sociology; law; nursing; technical writing; etc. Our organizational abilities are challenged by our disabilities, of which many people suffer similar symptoms. For many of our members, there are only a few hours in the day that we are able to function at our full physical and mental capacity. Because of that, we have been forced to "work smart," rather than work hard.
When I began attending the CHE meetings, I was primarily concerned with my own health problems. However, I soon began to see a wider array of unexplained health problems, such as cancer, emphysema, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disorders, birth defects, Lou Gehrig's disease, lupus, hyper and hypothyroidism, cardiac problems, chronic beryllium disease, the list goes on and on. It only seems reasonable to ask, "Is there a connection between the toxic materials used at the Oak Ridge sites, the toxic waste generated in epic proportions and disposed of for decades using antiquated disposal methods, and the onset of unexplained health problems both inside and outside the gates of the DOE facilities?"
When I began to suffer illnesses that appeared to be a result of my workplace, I began to ask questions. And I saw what was happening to others around me when they started asking the same question, mainly "is some thing in our workplace hurting, if not killing us?" Colleagues were taken off jobs, reassigned, harassed, ridiculed by fellow workers, shunned, isolated, and some eventually fired. I began to see that questioning, even the most basic, simple questions, was seen as a threat to the authority of those running the plant. I also saw that fellow workers quickly picked up on that and that they, in fear of losing their jobs, kept their mouths shut. I even knew people who were sick and had lab evidence confirming toxicants in their bodies, but who refused to report this out of fear for their jobs.
In terms of retaliation and harassment, I was in the minority and was truly blessed to have sympathetic and supportive management and colleagues. (See the earlier testimony on Page 2.) No one ever questioned or criticized me when I missed work for illness or doctor appointments. They knew I was a conscientious employee who was doing everything I could to maintain high work standards and get well.
Before I was sick, when faced with inadequacies in the workplace, I was more apt to say " never assume malevolence when incompetence when will do." I have now changed this view. It doesn't matter whether you call it incompetence, complacency, ignorance, or the remnants of the compartmentalization of the work effort for security purposes, it all results in the same: hurt people and even dead people.
I went through a period of denial about my illnesses. I couldn't believe that the men who were friends of my parents, who went to my church, who came to our home could have allowed me to be put in harms way. But it happened and there are many reasons why it did. I loved growing up in OR and it hurts deeply to see the community poisoned physically and spiritually. There is deep division and controversy there now. I feel that I have been betrayed by my hometown and country and I am deeply disturbed that these things I have told you about have been allowed to happen.
I wish more than anything that I were healthy and working again. It is depressing to go from an independent, extremely active, athletic hard worker to being disabled and a burden on my family and society.
I never dreamed I would still be unable to work 3 years after I left the workplace. But there's a very good reason why I am still out of work. LMES is self-insured and has real interest in avoiding liability. LMES medical insurance is atrocious. It is a huge battle and next to impossible to get diagnosed and treated. Local doctors are uninformed about the possible hazards and afraid to act given what has happened to one of their colleagues. Specialists who may find the answers are not being allowed to investigate our illnesses thoroughly. This was different before 1990 and the end of the Cold War. My View of the Situation in Oak Ridge
I. Sources of Potential Exposure on and around the Oak Ridge Reservation
We fear that the regulations are not protective of human health and the environment and here are some of the reasons we believe it. The following are a FEW examples that all is NOT well and safe in Oak Ridge.
- Metals in the Clinch River exceed state water quality criteria, although this information is not posted. Mercury levels exceed the criteria for fish and aquatic life. Arsenic levels exceed the criteria for human recreation.
- Uranium hexafluoride cylinders stored at K-25 are leaking as documented by the DNFSB.
- The K-25 main plant is contaminated and this contamination is migrating as acknowledged by DOE. - Neither LMES nor DOE have provided data to show that the incinerator is not a health hazard. Lack of monitoring ensures that emissions remain unknown. - Sludge from the City of Oak Ridge sewage treatment plant contains metals and radionuclides. Consequently, it is disposed of on the Oak Ridge Reservation. - Sediment containing mercury from East Fork Poplar Creek was used as fill under schools and the Civic Center. Warning signs on the creek have been removed, yet floods continue to rinse mercury out of the Y-12 buildings and into the creek, which has been declared "clean."
- There have core samples taken outside of K-25 office buildings that were found to contain beryllium above the EPA Region 4 Action Limit. But Lockheed Martin attorneys told us that there was no beryllium on the site! We now have at least two employees with chronic beryllium disease and one office employee with beryllium sensitization.
- There have been barrels of waste that were mistakenly sent to the Y-12 burial grounds (not licensed for type of waste) instead of Envirocare in Utah.
- The quantity of metals "burned" in the TSCA incinerator increased five-fold in 1995-1996. The Combustion and Air Toxics Research Lab at UCLA's Center for Clean Technology has stated that "Most risk assessment studies performed in conjunction with siting hazardous or municipal waste incinerators identify emissions of such heavy metals as cadmium, lead, and mercury as having relatively high potential for harming the surrounding population. These elements are usually emitted in the form of oxide aerosols, which are formed in the flame. Further, a significant fraction of the aerosol is in the sub-micron size range, which is both very difficult to handle with conventional particulate control devices and easily respired into the lungs. Once in the lungs, these metal oxides can lead to cancer and other health problems."
- The Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator permit has been changed 64 times. Some of the changes have been because the all of the sudden discovered it was burning illegal waste and to be legal, they had to have the new wastes added to the permit. The point it is, that these wastes were not part of the trial burn or the model that calculates efficiency and emissions. So, they really don't know what it is coming out! - There have been 12 thermal relief vent events. This happens when there is a problem in the feeding of the waste, or in the combustion chamber or in some other part of the facility. The entire process shuts down and a relief valve opens and undestroyed wastes are vented to the atmosphere. There were 4 of these events in 1996 - coincidentally the year that many sick people started showing up! - There have been hundreds of Notices of Violation - where the state or EPA put DOE on notice that they are in violation of the law or the permit. There are Covenants of agreement between DOE and EPA whereby EPA has agreed not to sue DOE even in DOE is found committing illegal activities. There have been ridiculously low fines levied by the state because DOE "self reports" the violations. More deal making to keep DOE out of trouble!
- TSCAI is still experimental. There is no technology for continuous monitoring of unburned and newly formed chemicals and metals. Incineration is often described as the "preferred alternative", a proven technology" or the "only feasible answer" to the toxic waste crisis. In reality, it merely provides an opportunity for DOE to avoid responsibility for their wasteful practices, dilute its wastes with large quantities of air and disperse it into the environment. This is convenient, liability-free and masks the problems and passes them to the next generation. - There have been "weekend runs" of materials from Y-12 to TSCA without proper documentation.
Note: We have documentation on all of these. You may request it from DOE.
DOE has admitted that the animals, trees, water, soil, and buildings are contaminated, BUT there's no way a human could be unless it is beryllium or a few radiation-induced cancers at Paducah!
We are dealing with a larger and larger toxic burden in our community. Even though some operations have ceased, clean up activities are releasing even more toxins into the air and water. When is enough enough?
When you hear that DOE is always in compliance and everything has been checked out to be safe, don't believe it! DOE's mantra is "we are always in compliance" and yet we continually find that they are NOT!
DOE continues to miss milestones in the clean up of the site and millions have been wasted on studies and technologies that have failed.
Granted DOE has an astronomical problem with the wastes and contamination and should NEVER be let off the hook for clean up. But this clean-up can and should be conducted safely. But it is scary when it is in the hands of someone who continually lies and denies, and makes mistakes all of the time, and has deals cut everywhere to avoid liability
DOE's credo is to only admit what the public is likely to already know or might find without much effort.
There is an 800 lb. gorilla alive and well in Oak Ridge. We are not entirely sure of the faces of the beast, but we suspect it is the power structure at DOE, the contractors, and the local government. II. Outside Occupation Physicians Were Hired to Help in September 1996 - At the request of employees and under pressure from DOE HQ, LMES hired outside physicians in September 1996 to evaluate employee health problems. They were asked to determine what had made us sick and direct us to get medical help. - The evaluation was closed to anyone beyond the original 53. Dozens more have presented with similar symptomology and lab results. - The physicians have violated the Hypocratic Oath and the Occupational Medicine ethics. - The physicians have been accountable to no one. - Local physicians, elected officials, attorneys have delayed treatment, determination for disability, and other actions. - The physicians spent resources on a poorly executed study to create a new urine thiocyanate reference range study that was neither peer reviewed or published. -Interim reports were filled with many unconscionable errors and, for some, were received 22 months into the study. - The physicians are ignoring the recommendations of world-class experts on beryllium testing and refusing to allow workers to proceed with additional testing. - The occupational physicians hired by LMES to support the workers did not conduct any biological testing until almost two years after their initial contact with the workers. Now that the workers have been off-site for almost two years, biological sampling is being performed. Given the extensive delay, we are convinced that little or no positive findings will be identified from any of the testing. We perceive this to have been a delay tactic by LMES in order to produce documentation that these employees received no exposures. Acute exposures will not be found. There is little medical data in the literature on effects of chronic exposures. - There has been no testing for metals or immune factors and very inconsistent testing overall. -The scope of industrial hygiene sampling was extremely limited. Workplaces had a VERY limited investigation. - A few workers have had diagnoses that we are aware of: 2 with CBD, 3 with Beryllium sensitization and a few with cardiac problems due to chemical exposures.
42 MONTHS LATER THERE ARE STILL FEW ANSWERS
NOTE: It is extremely important to understand this particular situation. The reports from these occupational physicians will be the first "filter" for which K-25 employees may receive compensation in the proposed legislation. As I understand it, DOE would have the final say after reviewing the doctors' reports. This entire activity is fraught with bad science, malpractice, and unethical behavior.
III. The Medical Dilemma
- There is evidence of environmentally-induced disease clustering in Oak Ridge and no rigorous clinical studies have ever been done. Most studies involved documenting off-site releases, were directed by company officials, or did not include physicians. - In 1987, the Institute of Medicine identified the need to learn more about chronic exposures and very little has been done about that. - Few physicians have any experience with clinical toxicology-none in Knoxville or Oak Ridge area and none in LMES insurance providers' networks. So, even if the hired Occupation Medicine physicians give us recommendations, we still are unable to get help from our local physicians. - Requests to LMES for workers compensation benefits have been denied.
The Workers Compensation (WC) system was put in place almost 100 years ago to protect corporations from lawsuits. It is not there to protect the employee. The WC process is controlled by LMES and NEVER proceeds if the injury involves toxicant exposure.
- Some physicians have refused to test employees for toxins and have refused to refer employees to appropriate specialists. - Local physicians cannot diagnose and treat the unexplained illnesses, and many have dismissed them as psychological disorders. - A Tennessee Health Department official has stated that local physicians will not diagnose anything that will hurt DOE. - Problems with classification of information have hindered our ability to help and get help. In some case, employees are still unable to discuss with their doctors what they may have been exposed to. - There have been problems with specimen samples being lost and/or contaminated. - LMES's insurance providers refuse to honor referrals to physicians with experience in, expertise in or a willingness to investigate toxicology, hence effectively denying treatment to sick workers and rendering their insurance virtually useless. [Because LMES is self-insured, all decisions and policy pronouncements by the insurance providers are being directed by LMES.] - Employees have had a very difficult time obtaining a copy of the LMES agreement with insurance providers. There are two providers and only one contract exists. -LM has limited the physicians we can see, the tests that may performed, the medicines we can take. - DOE has directed LM to reduce benefits' costs, especially long term benefits. - Retired employees' health benefits have been cut by 50%. - DOE reluctant to release data and do anything which may imply or admit liability. - Little or no action while health deteriorates. - There have been many insurance problems.
The ill workers requested specific testing nearly three years ago. The management and physicians at K-25 did not heed these requests. Workers were forced to proceed on their own for specific testing and have had to pay for it out of their pockets. Insurance will not pay for many of these tests nor will they pay for the treatment options that are available. The insurance company states that, in many cases, the illnesses should be covered under Worker's Comp. Other times, they state that the testing or treatments are not covered under the company insurance plan. The company refuses to acknowledge that the exposures and illnesses resulted from the workplace. Thus, workers are left without an income and with having to pay for their own medical attention and treatment. Many workers are without long-term Disability benefits because the insurance company refuses their benefits.
- More of the usual DOE studies are NOT needed.
We do not need any more dose reconstructions, epidemiological studies, or risk assessments, governor's panels (i.e., political solutions), mortality studies, or doctors who are afraid. We need real symptom surveys, people tested, diagnosed and treated by experts who are independent. We need the current "safety and health" attitude of reprisal, fixing blame on those least able to fight, complacency, and negligence at DOE facilities fixed NOW. We need all health and medical records from the beginning of Oak Ridge declassified NOW.
We have politically incorrect illnesses. We have experienced political science not good medical science. We have been forced into a position of proving the cause of illnesses when DOE owns the proof and it is still classified as secret. We are not even allowed to talk with our doctors about the materials we have been exposed to and our doctors cannot find out about the pathways of exposure. We have experienced unethical, incompetent science, withholding and falsification of data. Our requests for information are forwarded to the Department of Justice.
Teams of the nation's best physicians worked hard on developing treatment for leukemia. If the patients had had to prove how people got leukemia before they were treated, new leukemia treatment modalities would have never happened.
When someone is raped or shot, but not killed, the victim is not required to find the culprit and prove they have been injured. We have been placed in that very position and have been forced into lawsuits in order to receive compensation.
When someone has cancer or needs a knee operation, everyone understands: family, friends, doctors, insurance companies. We acknowledge that what we have is "apparently" new and unique, although we don't believe it is new or unique. However, it is indescribably frustrating and it is no wonder we see people depressed, committing suicide, and angry. Imagine yourself in our position, fighting these barriers daily and wondering: Will we ever get treatment? Will we ever get well? Will we ever be able to work again? Does America care? IV. Problems with Interactions with the Department of Energy
Secrecy
The most important element in our interactions with DOE is information. We are constantly battling with a host of unknowns. What are the chemicals, heavy metals, and radionuclides that the plant generated and released into the workplace and the environment over the years? How much? Through what pathways? What is the human body's response to the exposure of any one of those toxins, and, in our cases, what are the synergistic effects to multiple exposures to multiple toxins? How relevant are "official" dose estimates and dose assessments to our own possible exposures? What are the medical, scientific, legal, and economic paths to take in dealing with our conditions?
There is scant evidence of health effects from DOE activities because DOE's own record keeping is abysmal. They have even admitted their radiation exposure records for employees is flawed and unreliable prior to 1989 and we know they are since then because of "tests" that employees have done with their dosimeters in hot areas. DOE's health studies have been continually "inconclusive by design" and those epidemiologists who shown any positive correlation at all are now black balled from further research and having to shutdown their businesses and work groups.
Since the creation of the Manhattan Project in 1943, when the government town of Oak Ridge was first created, we have been totally dependent on the officials in Oak Ridge for the answers to these questions. Growing up in Oak Ridge, I trusted our government leaders whole-heartedly. Oak Ridge is a town of secrets; a town built on secrecy. I always thought the secrets that hid the details of how to build a nuclear bomb were ones that were best kept in the interest of national security. Growing up in Oak Ridge, it came natural to me not to ask questions. You did not ask what your friends' mother or father did at the plant, because it was most times a secret. I can remember for decades the billboards around the plants admonishing the workers not to talk about or take their work home with them. The secrets stayed inside the fences and walls of the Atomic Energy Commission/Department of Energy facilities.
It is not unreasonable to pose questions linking pollution, health, and DOE's safety practices and other activities? Congressional hearings on the pollution problems in the early 1980's found that the DOE Oak Ridge facilities had (according to an independent expert) "State of the art waste disposal-for 1943." Millions of pounds of low-level radioactive waste, along with heavy metals and volatile organic compounds were simply dumped into unlined trenches that were dug into the ground. These trenches often penetrated the groundwater level, which in many places in very shallow, sometimes only three feet below the surface of the earth.
It was revealed in the mid 1980's that more than 2.4 million pounds of mercury could not be accounted for at the Y-12 plant. I learned that hundreds of thousands pounds of mercury had slipped through the cracks in concrete floors and found its way into streams, groundwater, as well as ventilating into the air. Organic solvents have been found in the ground in concentrations of thousands of parts per million, hundreds if not thousands of times above EPA acceptable levels. White Oak "Lake," an impoundment built to contain radioactive run-off from waste trenches, is considered by experts to be the most radioactive "lake" in the country.
The reservation is considered to be one of the largest CERCLA Superfund sites in the country. In addition to the legacy waste generated over a half century of nuclear bomb building, uranium enrichment, and research, we also have the TSCA incinerator, which over the last half decade has been burning up over a million pounds each year of waste contaminated with both radioactive and hazardous substances such as PCBs. DOE calls "experimental" and it is the only one of its kind in the world. There is no acceptable (to EPA) monitoring equipment for monitoring metal emissions. It is located close to where people work and live. I worked about 100 yards from it and walked past it everyday to the parking lot.
The Cold War and the secrecy mentality still permeate the thinking of most people. MANY are still afraid to speak out for fear of violating their oath to keep the secrets and also afraid of losing their jobs. We have had people fired and retaliated against for whistleblowing.
I think a lot of our problem stems from the fact that the culture of secrecy bled over into every aspect of our work place at these facilities. If a person has any question in their own mind whether something is a national security secret or not, they will often make the safe choice and say nothing at all. The management running these facilities have taken advantage of that natural tendency to be circumspect about our work, and have enforced an unspoken, but well recognized code of silence about anything that may threaten not only national security, but anything that might potentially threaten the way the management operates these facilities. It is production first, health and safety something in the distant background.
Harassment
But, when I began to suffer illnesses that appeared to be a result of my workplace, I began to ask questions. And I saw what was happening to others around me when they started asking the same question, mainly "Is there something in our workplace that is hurting, if not killing us?" Colleagues were taken off jobs, reassigned, harassed, ridiculed by fellow workers, shunned, isolated, and some eventually fired. I began to see that questioning, even the most basic, simple questions, was seen as a threat to the authority of those running the plant. I also saw that fellow workers quickly picked up on that, and that they, in fear of losing their jobs, kept their mouths shut. I even knew people who were sick and had lab evidence confirming toxins in their bodies, but who refused to report this out of fear for their jobs.
Because of that heightened awareness in the workers not to challenge the authority of their superiors, we have sadly found that that affects the quality of the scientific integrity of the data that has been generated at the facilities. That is particularly true when the data has to do about the environmental monitoring conditions at the plant and the medical monitoring of employees. We have been really concerned about the reliability of the documents created by DOE because they are self-regulating. We are forced to live with the monitoring data that they give us as there is no independent monitoring of the DOE facilities. What we have seen time and time again is that when a professional, be they a technician or a nuclear engineer, challenges the quality, validity, reliability of any facet of work within the DOE environmental, safety or health programs, that they run the very real risk of jeopardizing their careers.
There truly is a "chilled atmosphere for safety" here at Oak Ridge. What is meant by that term is that Oak Ridge employees who make protected disclosures about safety and health hazards are often the victims of retaliation by DOE and its contractors? This is a widely known and frequently observed pattern, where workers who give voice to their ethical concerns do so under the threat of losing their livelihood.
We have all sorts of employee programs on the reporting of ethics, health and safety violations, but heaven help you if you spoke out. The hypocrisy was incredible. As a project manager there were so many rules and procedures on the one hand, and on the other hand, there was the pressure to get the job done. The hypocrisy was that often people did not even follow their own procedures. It seemed as though the procedures were window-dressing, only to be followed in case of an IG audit.
All hazardous workplaces will occasionally have accidents, but in private industry, accidents are intolerable because of lawsuits and the bottom line. While government agencies may worry about the Congressional control of the purse strings, but they must give citizens the opportunity to sue them and guess what? Mostly, they don't! We have seen too much retaliation against those who have been courageous enough to ask questions and speak publicly about these issues. Workers are afraid to report incidents and have even been ordered to NOT report them.
V. Problems with toxicology and regulations and the regulatory agencies
- Limits of exposure set with lethal doses, not chronic, long-term exposures (testing protocols don't mimic the real world) tests build on the end point of cancer, not immune, neurological, endocrine, and developmental diseases. - Tests and studies are inconclusive by design - Testing for one compound does not look at the additives in the materials in actual use. - Testing only looks at a single route of exposure no knowledge of synergistic exposures politics reigns over science: revolving door between industry and agency executives. - Elected officials dependent on financial generosity of industry. Laws are being weakened not enforced and strengthened. - Economics reigns over science: Costs of studies is extraordinary. 71% of thee 300 high production chemicals have no basic health data on them. People with a vested have funded 95% of the published studies interested in the product. - Government and industry uses "Risk Assessments" to overcome scientific uncertainty. It is method originally developed to analyze non-organic problems, such as bridge building. With a lack of information on chemical toxicity and genetic susceptibility, RA fails miserably to adequate human health and the larger environment. It becomes an economic decision based on "educated guess" as to the "acceptable" number of people that my die or be harmed by a chemical exposure. - What the government loves to call "health studies" are really nothing more than engineering exercises - studying DOE's own records which are highly suspect and trying to calculate doses, guessing at disease and death causes.
THE SOLUTION
HEALTH
Uninterrupted, comprehensive medical coverage for affected workers' lifetimes
Compensation for lost jobs and careers.
Comprehensive testing, e.g. wider testing of Oak Ridge employees and residents and comparative sampling of spouses of children (particularly those who do not come into Oak Ridge) of affected employees. This would help to determine whether DOE is the major source of contamination.
Community-led, research-driven medical intervention funded by DOE that involves the affected people and their advocates in the decision-making process with no competition between other communities affected by the DOE's activities.
Immediate compliance with occupational physicians recommendations for entering K-25 vaults with proper respiratory protection.
Aggressively upgrade all DOE, on-site medical clinics.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Thorough and independent evaluation of the K-25 Site and environs to identify, contain, and monitor ALL the hazards that endanger the citizens of Tennessee
Aggressive and thorough clean up of Oak Ridge and environs. Ensure that all DOE sites are safe for employees and near by residents
Install monitors for the assessment of heavy metals released from burning of toxic metals in the TSCA Incinerator. We also ask that the monitors be maintained in a properly working condition and that they accurately record/report emissions. Also, we ask that continuous "real-time" air emission monitors be installed so that months do not pass before knowing the content of emissions.
The Tennessee Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel had an expert testify that there should be this "real-time" continuous air monitoring. The "models" used in permitting the Incinerator do not inform of current emissions from the stack, nor whether or not they are hazardous to human health and the environment. There is no conclusive evidence as to what extent the PCBs, beryllium, heavy metals, various chemicals, and radioactive materials are being destroyed nor as to what new compounds are produced by the incineration process and disbursed into the atmosphere. By DOE/LMES's own admittance, the TSCA Incinerator is an EXPERIMENTAL Incinerator. Workers and citizens should not be exposed to possible contaminants if the appropriate safety levels have not been established.
INSTITUTIONAL
Aggressively de-classify health-related documents and STOP the destruction of classified documents. Documents recently declassified significantly alter the risk assessment models that are the foundations of the standards used to define operational parameters.
Ensure prompt and thorough compliance with Worker's Compensation laws.
Institute a moratorium on leasing of any K-25 facility until such investigation and mitigation are complete. Businesses that are leasing the buildings at the K-25 Site are not being informed about contaminants as a result of past practices in those buildings. The buildings have not been adequately characterized as to their hazards. Healthy workers are being exposed to contaminants including radionuclides, heavy metals, PCBs, Beryllium, and chemical, without their knowledge. Several times businesses have taken down the Radiological Control Postings warning of contamination in the area because they didn't want to worry their employees or potential clients.
Make CROET accountable to the public since it operates on public funds. This DOE/EM funded group is bringing in businesses to lease the buildings at K-25 in return for cleaning the buildings up. In many cases, there are known hazards that are ignored because the companies want to get rid of the "scrap" or "waste" within their building. There have been instances where radioactive contaminated scrap has been sent over a public road to the "contaminated scrap metal yard" without the proper Radiological Controls or surveys. There have been instances where employees have been radioactively contaminated due to improper Radiological Controls being enforced and because they were not told of the radiological hazards in the areas they were working. CROET is in a rush to lease and make money for DOE. CROET itself is also profiting. Government regulatory agencies need to look into the CROET Board and stop their "business-behind-closed-doors" policy. Members of the public are unable to attend CROET meetings because they are not informed of the dates/times. CROET Board members are even being excluded from decisions.
Recognize and comply with the Hall Amendment USC Title 42. DOE must recognize and comply with the Hall Amendment USC Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare, Chapter 84 - DOE, Subchapter VI - Administrative Provisions, Part C, 42 USC 7256 (01/16/96)? The EPA recognizes this Amendment, but DOE refuses to follow it. The leasing of contaminated buildings at the K-25 Site is proceeding without proper requirements being followed: specifically, Section C, Subsection (e), number 1 and 2.
Accelerate independent oversight of DOE by EPA, NRC, and OSHA.
Follow through on commitments made by DOE employees to the communities. (E.g., Dr. Seligman was here two and one-half years ago and we have heard nothing from him.)
Promote and fund much-needed research on the health effects of hundreds of that are in use in commerce today that have never had research on them before. This research must include effects of long-term, low-dose exposures and the synergistic effects and additive effects. Research on living people, with their consent and where they can see benefit. The Framingham heart disease study is an excellent example. Research occurs simultaneously with treatment.
Require "real" disease registries of all possible health effects and sentinel health effects from DOE facilities.
Follow up and complete actions on the Defense Nuclear Facilites Safety Board's findings.
Institute the recommendations of the ATSDR and EPA regarding hazardous waste incinerators.
There should be no competition for resources between DOE sites. We have been in contact with several communities around DOE sites across the country. Similar illnesses have been cited at these facilities. We are asking for DOE to make the sites safe for employees and for the public living near them. There should be proper controls in place to ensure safe working environments and appropriate clinical intervention made available for the ill workers and residents at each site. There are numerous illnesses and symptoms, which could well relate to exposures to the chemicals, heavy metals, PCBs, Beryllium, mercury, and radionuclides used at each site.
Declassify all health-related documents immediately. This is extremely important in light of the fact that most employees are not told to what they have been or may have been exposed. National security classification is used as an excuse to prevent informing the workers, thus "worrying them." This might have interfered with their enthusiasm for getting the job done. By Presidential Order, all documents must be declassified by the year 2000. We consider their declassification a matter of urgency, as they are central to the potential medical intervention and treatment of employees.
Also buried under classification are health studies that impact the workers. The "Nickel Health Study" is one such example. Knowing the effects of chemicals, metals, etc., by way of studies and not making this known to the workers, who have been around the elements/materials, is negligent. All workers must be told of the health hazards, both known and potential, of all elements/materials that they are working with and around if that element/material is in close proximity to the worker's area.
Classification has been used as an excuse. Early documents state that data will be withheld, harm will be denied because of fear liability and fear of the unions asking for hazard pay.
IMMEDIATELY stop the retaliation of whistleblowers particularly when their activities relate to the health and safety. STOP the punishment of workers for their "Whistleblowing activities" relating to the health, safety and security of themselves and their fellow-employees. Several "Whistleblowers" are among the CHE membership. Two DOE and contractor employees have been harassed and three fired because they were trying to do their job by protecting the health, safety and security of the workers. Joe Carson, Sherrie Farver, Ruth Murphy, Floyd Glenn, Ann Walzer, and Dennis McQuade were in positions designated expressly to protect the workers. They are no longer in these positions because of management's judgement to either impair their functionality or eliminate them by firing them from the system. Workers are entitled to protection under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration laws and regulations. DOE is self-regulatory and does not do its job in protecting employees where money is concerned.
Fatalities and injuries have resulted due to negligence by LMES/DOE and its subcontractors. These fatalities and injuries could have been avoided if the "whistleblowers" were allowed to conduct their duties in protecting the health and safety of the workers.
THE BOTTOM LINE
DOE must transcend the fear of liability and allow:
"Real" science to occur.
Researchers and those who advise DOE must be allowed to ask questions and raise issues without fear of retaliation.
Affected workers and "downwinders" must have access to the best in medical care immediately and compensation for lost wages and careers.