Lawsuits linger against Hanford Atomic Plant for cancer-causingradiation

[caption id="attachment_15070" align="alignleft" width="300"] Lori McMillan[/caption]

Carol Forsloff - Lori McMillan is one of a number of people who claim to have serious health problems related to radiation exposure from living near the Hanford Nuclear Plant. Like others who are referred to as "downwinders," her claims are contested by science and the law, even as anecdotal evidence mounts against Hanford, an area in Eastern Washington said to be more contaminated and dangerous than any area in the world. Her story is like many other people, including this journalist, who was married to nuclear physicist, Francis Czerniejewski, and who lived in the region just a few miles from Hanford for five years during the 1960's.

McMillan has breast cancer, and 10 of 13 of her friends have died of cancer since she moved to Hermiston, an area located within 50 miles of the Hanford Nuclear Plant. The rest of her family, including a daughter, have complained also of significant health problems that McMillan believes are related to radiation exposure. These include miscarriages and infertility, similar to problems I had shortly after moving to the Tri-Cities area of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco, Washington during the early 1960's.

During an interview with this journalist McMillan cited examples of others who share their concerns about the health problems they maintain are related to levels of radiation exposure. Many lawsuits that began 19 years ago remain pending review or trial. But the question of how much exposure to radiation can cause serious diseases remains controversial.

The Downwinder website follows the litigation process related to complaints filed in reference to Hanford radiation effects said specifically to cause cancer, birth defects and other serious health issues.
According to recent updates on the general information site referencing clients in re Berg (CY-96-3151-WFN) and Lumpkin, et al. v. DuPont, et al. (CT-00-5052-WFN) cases all the cases have been consolidated and are now known as re Hanford Nuclear Reservation Litigation (CV-91-3015-WFN) Litigation was initiated against the Hanford Nuclear Facility which produced plutonium for the creation of nuclear weapons by the United States during the period 1944 until 1990. Thousands of people who maintain they were exposed to Hanford's radiation initiated claims beginning in 1990. Some of these cases continue at the present time. Plaintiffs Gloria Wise was awarded $317,251 and Steve Stanton $227,508 for their thyroid cancers in jury trials in 2005. Others are presently on appeal.

Since the development of Hanford health physicists have been aware of the potential health problems that might occur from radiation exposure. They determined that radioiodine presented the greatest and most immediate hazard but were uncertain to what degree. National Defense issues during the period following World War II delayed further investigations. Furthermore an intentional release of radioactive material at Hanford in 1949, which was said to be an "intelligence-related experiment" was kept secret from the public until 1986. Local communities had therefore been exposed to serious hazards without their knowledge.

How much is too much exposure to radiation and what are the consequences to human and animal health is a complex question requiring many dimensions of research and information, according to experts. Data has to be collected that quantifies the amount of radioactive material, the length of exposure, and the specific details of the effect on a given number of individuals. Radiation exposure can be from either gamma or beta radiation, which affects the skin. It can also enter the human body through the food supply.

Scientists from the Department of Energy tell us cancer is the principal type of injury that can occur from radiation exposure, but that it is difficult to determine causation related to it versus other factors. This becomes the difficult task offered by the Hanford experience.

In the meantime protest groups have organized to remind the government of the need for oversight on the clean-up efforts related to Hanford's nuclear waste that remains from the closing of its principal reactors. They stand with the "downwinders" in objection to the way nuclear energy has been presented to the public, the lack of reliable data on the potential threats to humans, and the intense secrecy concerning intentional releases of radioactive material that made the people in the Tri-Cities guinea pigs in experiments. An April 15 rally in Richland, Washington underlined the need for the government to properly contain the waste, provide proper oversight on clean-up operations and to do so more expeditiously in order to protect the community from potentially further harm.

It is the legacy of the "downwinders" and my own that provokes concern, but the problems related to nuclear energy remain as the search for sources of alternative energy to oil and gas continue. The worry for the Hanford Watch group, environmentalists and litigants is that the risks of the past, the lack of specifics related to the radiation, may be too high a price to pay to continue nuclear energy as a source of power.

Occupy Movement, environmentalists rally against Hanford nuclear threats

[caption id="attachment_15044" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dorli Rainey, activist[/caption]

Carol Forsloff - Richland, Washington  looks to the idle visitor like the kind of town that is prospering, healthy and one of those sunny villages alongside the Columbia River that people flocked to for fishing and outdoor fun. But it is also located just a few miles from the Hanford Atomic Plant, a place some scientists tell us is the most dangerous area in the world. This weekend it was the site of a protest organized by the Occupy movement and an array of activists from different organizations, as controversy continues about the potential disaster that could result from the Hanford Nuclear Plant.

Stewart Udall, former Secretary of the Interior, reportedly called Hanford the “most tragic chapter in American Cold War history.”

The Hanford Atomic Plant was one of the principal research and development centers for nuclear energy for bomb-making purposes during World War II. After worries arose over the safety of nuclear energy, the plant was closed, leaving behind many unresolved issues. Some  of these issues have involved the health and welfare of people who had lived and worked in the area, with lawsuits in and out of the courts. Some of these lawsuits remain pending, although filed decades ago. Plaintiffs claim infertility, miscarriages, cancers and a host of other diseases they believe were caused from direct or downwind exposure to nuclear waste products. The medical risks associated with Hanford, some of which are still being investigated, also include birth defects, organ failure and a host of chronic diseases, as noted by this source.

Radioactive material, above the range of normal, is found surrounding Hanford. The concerns continue even more dramatically about the disposition of the nuclear waste that threatens widespread contamination and the specific  risks to the Columbia River that extends through Washington and Oregon.

Environmental activists and members of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregon Peaceworks, Nukewatch, and Occupy groups from both Portland and the Tri-Cities, as well as private citizens and members of other activist groups gathered on April 15 at the Jon Dam Plaza in Richland, concerned over the consequences of a prolonged nuclear clean-up that has cost the taxpayers more than $12 billion to date.

The Hanford Watch Advisory Board  says, “The Hanford Nuclear Reservation is the largest nuclear waste dump in the Western Hemisphere and a major Northwest environmental issue. It is a serious long-term threat to the Columbia River, which Oregon depends on for power generation, farm irrigation, fishing, transport and recreation.”

Environmentalists worry about the fact that the cleanup plant is only half constructed. Problems related to waste removal and protection of the environment have yet to be resolved for the estimated 53 million tons of radioactive waste. Some of that waste is contained in tanks that are long past the life span projected for safety.

In an article published in DC Bureau, entitled "Veteran Hanford Engineer Says DOE’s Multi-Billion Dollar Hanford Nuclear Waste Processing Plant Might Not Work Properly and Has Serious Potential Safety Problems", author David Rosenthal  relates some of the background of the Plant and the whistle-blower whose report of safety violations cost him his job. Dr. Walter Tamosaitis was the research and technology manager and the deputy chief processing engineer for URS Corporation, according to Rosenthal's report. URS Corporation is a subcontractor to Bechtel, the company in charge of the clean-up. Tamosaitis had been responsible for the  $500 million budget set up to cover the major design functions of the waste treatment plant. functions.

On July 2,  2010 Tamosaitis said that he was literally escorted out of the building at the Plant “like an absolute felon,” he said. He was fired after raising concerns of about safety and some of the operations taking place at the plant.

“The management, in my opinion, did not want to hear that and the easiest thing to do to move ahead is to eliminate what’s a potential road block. …’We’ll get rid of him,’” Rosenthal reports Tamosaitis as saying. This had followed a presentation Tamosaitis and some of his fellow engineers had presented to URS and Bechtel managers.

Should nuclear power be dismissed as an option for energy? While environmentalists complain about the potential risks, Jerry Schlaman, a mechanical engineer who has worked for 27 years in nuclear power and who was interviewed by this reporter at the rally, maintains nuclear power is a viable option.  He said, "I am pro-nuke, but anti-nuke management. The emphasis needs to be on safety, not money."

And money continues to be a major factor, as Richland sports new housing developments everywhere. Money from Hanford fuels much of the Tri-Cities economy, and the longer the delay, the more money is spent on the challenges left at the nuclear plant. It is, however, those great risks to the populations of Oregon and Washington all the way to the Canadian border that brought the activists to rally this weekend for the government to explain the delays in containment of the nuclear waste and to demand appropriate solutions to what they call "the problems caused by Hanford's past in order to ensure the health and dignity of future generations."

Dorli Rainey, who is called by the community of activists, "a rock star" for her involvement in causes of peace, women's rights and the environment, spoke early on the program about the need for safety in solving the problems of the nation's energy crisis. She was raised in Austria during World War II, and at the age of 84 remains a stout defender of peace, telling folks, "When you have a bomb dropped on your house, you can scream for revenge or look for peaceful ways to solve problems. I choose the path of peace."

But for Lori McMillan of Hermiston, Oregon, who lives "downwind" or less than 50 miles from the Hanford plant, the problems at Hanford are truly  personal. She told this reporter she had moved to the area in 1977. Out of 14 people who were a close group of friends, Lori said there are only 4 left. All the others died of cancer, and McMillan has breast cancer now. Her daughter has cervical cancer, had an ectopic pregnancy and two miscarriages.

[caption id="attachment_15045" align="alignleft" width="300"] Lori McMillan at protest rally in Richland, Washington[/caption]

It is this personal story, the anecdotal evidence, that arouses compassion from those who call attention to the safety concerns of nuclear power and those who challenge governmental delays before Hanford becomes the far greater disaster than Japan's Fukushima plant that some scientists predict may happen.