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Nuclear worker described as ‘an angel sent from heaven’
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – Donna Hand has been described by members of the Florida Nuclear Workers as “an angel sent from heaven.”
Her father was a phosphate worker who, she said, died of exposure to contamination. Since, she has been fighting the U.S. government for survivor benefits.
Hand has become an authority on workers exposed to radiation and other contaminants. She has been assisting the Nuclear Workers of Florida in their quest to obtain medical benefits and compensation for illnesses caused by contaminant’s.
At a Dec. 10 meeting in Largo with affected former nuclear workers she and representatives of various federal lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Labor heard the stories of the suffering caused by various contaminants at Pinellas Plant.
“The burden is on the people to prove that their illnesses are the result of exposure to pollutants,” Hand said.
The Department of Labor has paid out more than $1.5 billion under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program to nuclear workers in various parts of the United States. Since 2001 more than 75,000 claims by workers or their survivors have been filed under the program. About 51,000 claims have been approved for lump sum awards with another $104 million to cover medical care.
The Labor Department continues to work with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which must complete a radiation dose reconstruction for each individual before the Department of Labor decides on eligibility for benefits.
Part E of the program was launched with more than 25,000 cases shifted from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Department of Labor has held 143 “town meetings” in all parts of the country as part of its outreach efforts with a goal of making final decisions compensation by Sept. 30 on 75 percent of the backlogged cases.
But workers feel they have suffered and waited enough. At a recent Florida Nuclear Workers meeting at the Epicenter in Largo, one woman identified only as “Sue” said when her father worked at Pinellas Plant he cut his hand on a glass tube. That, the daughter said, exposed him to toxins that went straight to his blood stream.
To get compensation, Ann Gleason of the Florida Nuclear Workers said, a person must have suffered a 50 percent exposure to contaminants. One woman who worked at the plant between 1979 and 1993 suffers from an eye cancer. She was rejected for benefits because her exposure rate was determined to be only 45 percent. Then doctors determined she had breast cancer.
“I had to undergo a double mastectomy and they said my exposure was only 49 percent,” the woman said. “I was rejected again for benefits.”
Exposure to chemicals, radiation and other elements has caused leukemia, blood disorders, various cancers, breathing and other disorders.
One of the saddest testimonies came from a 62-year-old man who lost his wife of nearly 20 years to cancer.
“We were married just two days shy of 20 years,” the man said between tears. “She died from exposure to radiation.”
A 27-year veteran at Pinellas Plant said employees also were exposed to asbestos and leaking corrosives.
Sam Max of Tarpon Springs worked in the machine shop and today suffers from prostate cancer.
“It was a dangerous place to work,” said Max, who worked at the plant 30 years. “There was so much airborne particles that a yellow powder covered everything.”
Another man identified only as Robert K. said he worked in the tube exhaust area where he said he was exposed to many contaminants. He provided a photograph taken at the plant that showed him wearing only a cotton gown and cap for protection against radiation.
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Article published on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008
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