Jim Wood died from brain cancer just over a year ago. Wood worked at a nuclear weapons plant in Largo from 1982 to 1997.  The plant was originally opened by General Electric, taken over by Lockheed Martin and closed under the supervision of the Department of Energy.

Wood was one of thousands of workers around the country who helped produce nuclear weapons during the Cold War years.  In Pinellas, workers assembled triggers for nuclear weapons.

The government determined nuclear weapons workers developed cancer from exposure to radioactive and toxic chemicals at 290 facilities. Congress passed a law to cover their medical benefits and provide a lump sum $150,000 payment to each.

The catch – workers had to prove their job caused their cancer.

News Channel 8 Senior investigative reporter Steve Andrews found many workers had no idea what they were exposed to. Now during their hour of need, many of these stricken workers feel abandoned by the government they served.

Former Workers Say Pinellas Nuclear Plant’s Radiation, Chemicals Connected To Cancer
Ex-Worker At Largo Nuclear Weapons Plant Sees Cancer Link

Target 8: Watch Steve Andrews’ Story | Part 2 | Reactions | Nelson Investigates
Special Section

Did you work at this facility?  Have you found yourself in a situation like this? Join this discussion forum and tell Steve about your situation.

Links:
Department Of Labor
EEOICP Program Statistics by State and Worksite
Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation

workers suffering

My husband, Carl, passed away in June 07 from multiple myeloma. His cancer was caused by exposure to five atomic bombs and one hydrogen bomb while stationed on Enewetek in the Marshall Island in 1953-54. A VA compensation claim took 14 months to give him the status of 100% permanent and totally disabled. After his death, I found out about the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Because he was an onsite participant he would be entitled to only 75,000. But, because he had received VA compensation for two years and eight months before his death, he probably would not be entitled to any more money. The way the act reads, the monies received from VA compensation would be subtracted from 75,000 and he would get the rest or I would as surviving widow.  Carl received VA compensation totalling approxiamately 83,200 but my brother has received 83,520 over the last 20 years (30% disabled) for a shoulder injury from a motorcycle accident he had while in the Air Force.  An accident which happened on his own motorcycle while off duty.  And since he will not die from a bad shoulder he stands to receive a lot more in compensation before his death.  My husband was killed for no other reason than following the orders of the United States government while in the Army and he will receive less compensation than someone who received a shoulder injury off duty.  And, he received far less than the victims of 9-11 who were killed at the hands of terrorist.  I know that my grief clouds my thinking at times but how is this fair?

I worked at the Pinellas Plant from 1961 to 1992 under GE and Lockheed Martin from 1992 until 1995 (the last stages of “Plant Shutdown"). Like many others I filed a claim which was denied after being in the system for several years. I sat in a number of meetings and saw a lot of slides from various high-paid people from various government agencies. I even wrote a letter supporting the widow of a co-worker ("Al") as she knew nothing about what he did and what he was exposed to at the Pinellas Plant. Nothing ever happened and she was denied any coverage despite the numerous cancers which finally killed Al.

I also notified the Department of Labor about the many non-employee laborers at this site, especially quite a few that had to break down “hot areas” (read radioactive) with little protection from what I saw. Perhaps a further instigation into the fate of many other workers needs to take place.

Lastly, Congressman “Bill” Young is exposed. There is a parallel story here and that is the pension of many of these employees that Retired under Lockheed Martin Specialty Components (LMSC). (This company took over the operating contract from GE in 1992.)

Despite the various promises that the new contractor (LMSC) made about the employees not seeing any difference in the benefits, the latter’s pension plan did not cover any cost of living (or any other kind) increases. Those that retired in 1995 are getting the same pension dollars in 2007. Those that survive to 2015, and I hope there are many, will be getting the same monthly pension they retired with 20 years earlier.

Now back to “Bill” Young. Many (including me) have addressed the pension issue to his office and as far as I know, the Congressman has never replied to anyone. (I keep in email contact with key people and would have heard something.) I remember Congressman Young coming to the Young Rainey STAR Center on several occasions, and sat through several of his presentations on the “conversion” of a nuclear weapons facility which was “sold” to Pinellas County.

The lesson learned is that if a key WFLA investigative report can’t get the Congressman to reply to their numerous contacts, what chance do we, the citizens of Florida who worked many years at the very building that bears Young’s name, have in him answering our pleas for help?

1300 people out of 2200 have been diagnosed with cancer that we know of.  Three out of five men that worked on the same a/c maintenance crew have been diagnosed with cancer.  This IS NOT a coincidence.  The Government is well aware of what all of these people were exposed to otherwise they would not have put The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICP) in place.  There is millions of dollars earmarked to pay out to these effected employees, yet they are the ones that have to prove their cancer came from working at the plant.  The Government should be the ones having to prove that it didn’t.  I think the numbers speak volumes and I’m sure there are others out there that had no idea this was going on until this story aired.

Bob Puccinelli, who was featured in this story, is my father and I love him with all of my heart.  My husband Dave and I also were employed at the plant.  My husband, for a time, worked in security with my father and they entered all areas of the plant, unprotected, as they made their rounds checking to make sure everything was safe.  I fear for my husband’s health at the same time I watch my father struggle to survive.  My father’s battle began many years ago when he was stricken with skin cancer, which he has been diagnosed with six or seven times now, if not more.  His death sentence, if you will, was handed to him two years ago when he was informed he had pancreatic cancer.  Dad endured 5 procedures in a week and a half, with the last one being a 7 hour surgery to remove his tumor and completely reroute his interior.  This was a very grueling and aggressive surgery.  A mere five weeks after the surgery, his doctor discovered that the cancer had metastized to his liver.  At that point he said, “It’s in God’s hands now!” It was a devastating blow for us.  I was there at the time and will never forget the look on my father’s face when he was delivered that news.  He has been battling both cancers ever since, taking chemo pills every day, as well as going through his 3rd round of chemo.  He is doing his best to not let it consume him, but it is very difficult at times.  He definitely has his “good” and bad days.  While my dad is a fighter and will not give up, this has taken a toll on the family, especially my mother, who is his main caregiver.  They both retired to enjoy the rest of their lives and what they find is that they spend all their time at clinics or hospitals.  The majority of my dad’s life is consists of feeling bad, running fevers, sleeping, getting chemo, getting shots to boost his immune system after chemo, blood transfusions, doctors appointments, and PETScans.  It’s a very hard life.  It’s extremely difficult for my mother to watch the person she loves constantly feeling bad.  It has not been an easy two years to say the least. 

Ironically, even with all the treatments and medical procedures that my father goes through, dealing with the Dept. of Labor has by far been the most difficult part of all of this.  They have given him the run around like I’ve never seen.  They have awarded people this compensation who have merely had skin cancer, not that I’m downplaying any form of cancer, but come on.  They received their $150,000 and their medical card.  A lady that worked in HR who was nowhere near the chemicals got her money and card.  Yet, my father who has one of the worst cancers there is, keeps getting his paperwork pushed from one processor, to another, then another, and keeps getting asked the same questions over and over again, since apparently people at the Dept. of Labor do not know how to communicate, only to get nowhere.  These people at the Dept. of Labor are idiots.  They have no clue what information is even on their own websites, what the posted numbers mean, what some of the paperwork and letters these people are receiving means.  It’s absolutely maddening.  This paperwork faux pas gets my dad’s more riled up than any surgery or chemo.  In my opinion, he has been treated completely unfair as have all the others who have not been awarded the money and medical card they so deserve.  The money that has already been set aside for them, so why aren’t they getting it?  Let’s ask President Bush.  Has he suddenly taken this earmarked, open-ended fund, and spent it on his other death program - the war?

We have been told that for some reason the people at the Pinellas Plant aren’t getting their money like the people from other plants around the country also covered by this program.  Why?  Certainly don’t ask Congressman Young because he could care less.  He is too busy traipsing around town cutting ribbons at all the locations that his name seems to now be posted - libraries, bridges, etc.  He is not doing his job, he is ignoring the people who are crying out for help.  He is a total loser in my book.  My parents have supported him for years and now when they need him, he is not anywhere to be found.  It’s absolutely pathetic.

I am so glad that I contacted Mr. Andrews about this story and I just hope, as my father does, that it gets the exposure that it truly deserves and that people, whether effected by this or not, get mad enough when they realize what these people are going through.  They need to write letters, make phone calls, etc.  Pressure needs to be put on someone so these people can get what they rightfully deserve.  $150,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to the medical bills these folks are receiving.  Someone in the Government needs to step up and make this right for these people.  I believe that Governor Crist needs to get involved as well.  Something has to be done.

Please help by flooding the phone lines and packing the mailboxes of the Government officials who know that they can help.  There were a lot of people that worked at the Pinellas Plant and many local residents know these people.  We should do what we can to help all of them.

Thanks,
Laura Shives

My mother worked at the Largo facility in the early to mid 80’s. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 90’s; she fought that and won. She was diagnosed with other cancers in the late 90’s.  She was very sick from the chemotherapy and fought as much as she could. In late 2003, she was diagnosed with some type of nerve cancer (I can’t remember the exact diagnosis).  Afterwards, she held on until my daughter (her only granddaughter) was born in September of 2004. A little over a month later, she passed away with her family at her side and in extreme pain.  NIOSH (SP) contacted my brother and I and we had to go through some phone interviews and filed some paperwork.

We were told that her cancer was not related to the exposure at the plant. I have all the documentation if needed.  There was no history of cancer in my mother’s family.  Her and my dad got married in their early twenties.  My father is pretty healthy (other than being a diabetic).  My brother and I are healthy (so far). My mom used the term “HOT” when referring to her exposure and said she was decontaminated a few times. I do not have any more information other than that. I do not know much about what she did or performed at the plant. NIOSH keep referring to her as an escort.  I told them my mother never discussed her work while she was there.

I don’t know if I have the energy to go through this again, but I just want to know what took her life. We feel we were getting the run-around. My brother is very passionate about getting full disclosure, but he’s hit a few brick walls. This has caused much tension with our family and until someone told me to look here, I pretty much gave up.

If we can help provide closure for our family or anyone else’s for that matter, we’re here.

I can be contacted at .  I will not post any personal information here about my mom or our family. If you need the documentation we have, please contact me by e-mail and I will be more than happy to provide copies.

workers suffering

After reading Laura’s story about her father, Bob Puccinelli, I couldn’t help but cry.  Everything that her father is dealing with both medical and government, I have been through with my husband.  Once you find out that the cancer was caused by the government’s actions you assume that they will take care of you.  It is so obvious where the cancer came from, done deal.  Not so.  They, like Laura said, will make you answer the same questions over and over again.  They put you in a pending file while they research back records to see if what you say is true, even though you have given them tons of proof.  Proof to include the badge, with his picture, my husband wore on the island and a letter from The Dept of Defense sent my husband in 1978 asking him how his health was.  Still they had to research if he was even there.  And you have to deal with this while trying to get medical attention.  My husband did have the VA hospital to go to, but please don’t get me started on that conversation.  I made countless phone calls to anyone that I thought could help.  Always feeling so hurt when promises turned out to be lies. 

Laura, keep screaming.  I hope you understand that there are hundreds of thousands of American veterans that were exposed to radiation for long periods of time that are also having a difficult time getting the government to step up.  Many of these vets died never knowing that their cancer was linked to radiation.  I know that some day you will see the compensation due your father.  I hope that it will come soon. 

One more thing, your father’s compensation of 150,000 and my husband’s of 75,000, not sure I understand why there should be a difference, I have to just shake my head.  The government certainly doesn’t put much value on their lives.  I cry to think that my husband, at 21, was nothing more than a “lab rat”, without his consent, and 75,000 is all he was worth.  Both of them, no all of them, deserve so much more!! 

Fran

The medical issues that my fellow ex-employees have are very important and point to the failure of the government to even honestly reply to the families and the public.  This failure has fallen mainly on the deaf ears of our Florida elected US Congressman Young and US Senator Nelson.  Both have emulated the osterich and stuck their heads in the sand.  At least Nelson sent an aide to “take a look” at the issue.  Young has his beak down into the hardpan.

To make this point of Young’s lack of concern, I am pasting below a copy of my unanswered letter to Young set almost two years ago:

Congressman Bill Young
801 West Bay Drive, Suite 606
Largo, FL, 33770

January 16, 2006

Dear Congressman Young,

Your name is on the front of the building I worked at for thirty-three years, the “Young-Rainey Star Center.” (Do you still have one of the aluminum “Star Center” business card holders that I designed?) I talked to you at the Star Center when you came in to tour Custom Manufacturing and Engineering, the main spin-off business from Lockheed Martin Specialty Components.
But let’s get down to the problem that stems back to this building with your name on it.  It involves the Lockheed Martin Specialty Components Pension Plan.

Back in 1992, Martin Marietta Corporation, which became Martin Marietta Specialty Components, Inc. for the operation of the Pinellas Plant, and subsequently changed to Lockheed Martin Specialty Components, Inc. (LMSC), took over the operation from General Electric Neutron Devices Department, Inc. (GEND).  Many promises were made to the then GEND employees, mainly that the changeover would be invisible to the employees, and the plans would remain the same.
The employees were in many meetings and heard many presentations about how the benefit plans would be the same as the prior contractor (GEND).  Some of the printed statements were supplied to Senator Nelson’s office (more below).  If need be, there are over twelve hundred witnesses that heard these statements.

At issue is the LMSC Pension Plan.  The GEND Pension Plan, as required by the government, is separate from the General Electric Co. corporate Pension Plan.  (Same with the LMSC plan.) When GEND operated the plant, the employees were told that the GEND Pension Plan would have cost of living increases for pensioners.  These increases were to parallel (to establish an increase rate) the corporate plan.  This was verified by those retired under this plan.

As I mentioned above, the LMSC plans were to be the same as the GEND plans.  After LMSC started operating the Pinellas Plant, we were told that the LMSC Pension Plan would not have any cost of living increases in it.  After all, Lockheed Martin had their foot in the door.

Before the Pinellas Plant operation shut down, many employees complained to LMSC management (also documented), but management turned a deaf ear.  After all, LMSC had the contract, albeit through lies to the employees.  The U.S. Department of Energy had also turned a deaf ear.  Shame on them all!

Senator Nelson had a representative at one of the meetings concerning benefits for illnesses resulting from operations at the Pinellas Plant.  About a dozen ex-LMSC employees approached her about the LMSC Pension Plan issue.  We collectively provided information on this issue and I personally wrote a long document about the promises by Martin Marietta at the time, and included copies of their printed statements.

Senator Nelson’s office requested an investigation by the Department of labor.  The result of this investigation was that the D.O.L. said that the LMSC Pension Plan follows the ERISA rules.  (Letter from Howard Marsh, U.S.D.O.L. – December 21, 2005, to Senator Nelson).

Unfortunately, Senator Nelson’s office as well as the D.O.L. were both off base.  The ERISA question was never raised.  What was brought up, and was evidence supplied to Senator Nelson’s office, concerns the promises made by Martin Marietta Corporation when they assumed the Department of Energy contract for the “Maintenance and Operation” of the Pinellas Plant.

Unfortunately, the almost twelve hundred men and women on LMSC pension have no prospects for cost of living increases.  I retired in 1997, and have the same pension now, after close to nine years later.  Keep in mind that those in this plan are on the younger side as most that could retire under the GEND plan did so.  As such, the number of pensioners participating in the LMSC plan will increase, but their pension rates will be based on the mid-1990’s rates when they retired.

I ask that your office visit this issue on behalf of the many men and women that worked at the Pinellas Plant, now the Young-Rainey Star Center.  It concerns a corporation that lied to employees as it was awarded a government contract, and the local D.O.E. office (Pinellas Area Office) that stood by, and did nothing.

I remain,

Lewis L. Zerfas

Let me preface this by saying this post is not going to be very popular, but this is my experience working at the plant....

I worked at the plant from 1983 until about 6 months before they closed. I primarily worked in contamination areas and repaired, calibrated and maintained the equipment in those areas. I was also involved in the decommissioning and disposal of the equipment in some of these areas.

I am not trying to make a statement or determination as to whether the claims of the ill individuals are valid or not, but never in my 14 years working at the facility was I ever unaware or uncomfortable with what I was working with or exposed to.

In my experience, I was trained properly, safety was crammed down our throats and recurred every year. I had Health Physics personnel available to me at all times. Safety equipment was provided and mandatory, as well as regular monitoring of the areas I worked in as well as my individual exposure.

I was never forced or coerced into doing anything dangerous or I felt uncomfortable doing and if I had any questions or concerns, I could stop whatever the job was and we knew where to go to get the issues addressed. In my opinion, in the years I worked there, I was properly trained, tested, had access to knowledgeable caring safety personnel who looked out for me and were available to me at any time I needed them.

I can’t speak about the years prior to 1983, but in the time I worked there, I believe that I received the best training possible and had adequate safety equipment and unlimited access to knowledgeable Health physics personnel and was made aware of what I was dealing with.

Reading some of these posts, it doesn’t seem like I worked at the same place.

Mark K

I have to agree with Mark that there were plenty of safety programs going on at the Pinellas Plant.  In my 31 years there, I participated in many meetings.  For much of the time we had to have monthly safety meetings.  The question remains, were enough of these meetings focused on the dangers of radioactive materials?

During my entire employment at the Pinellas Plant, I worked in engineering departments.  Often, employees in these departments had to go into various areas in the plant to either verify that equipment conformed to drawings (and vice-versa), measured areas to design new “test equipment” and examine the feasibility of modifying existing equipment for additional capabilities.

The vast majority of the safety meetings concerned electric shocks, hazards such as lacerations, falls, etc., and perhaps the most frequent topic at safety meetings was eye safety.  Very few meetings were held on radioactive issues.  Remember, I am talking about those employees in engineering where our work areas were primarily in office areas.  It is the often trips to the other areas where radioactive materials were present and how employees in offices were not adequately trained and perhaps protected is of great concern.

If you didn’t have safety glasses on in an area that required them you were quickly told to get them on.  But who warned us about the air we breathed or the items we touched?

In my 31 years at the Pinellas Plant, I was never given a dosimeter to wear.  I had been into almost every area in the plant.  Some areas I had been required me to wear coveralls and booties over my shoes.  They were defined as “clean rooms” but ironically were also where some of the radioactive materials were loaded.  To my knowledge, I was never tested for radioactivity – unless it was done at the annual physical which was given to employees at their option.

There were many guarded secrets at the Pinellas Plant, and rightly so for the sake of National Security.  But now that the operation is gone, there are guarded secrets that do not concern National Security, but rather liabilities.

In hind sight, I’m sure many employees would like to have had as much radioactive material awareness training at their safety meeting as they had for eye protection.

One other note – when I had applied for a claim (under this program) I had to prove that I was employed at this plant for almost one-third of a century.  My name, social security number, dates of employment, and employee number were not enough.  It seems that these agencies that are so careful in employee awareness had “misplaced” many of the records.  Now they are trying to “reconstruct” the various activities at the plant - from what data?

Lew

This is in response to Mark K’s message.

Apparently you are one of the lucky ones, as are many people, I’m sure.  Everyone’s bodies are unique and tolerate exposure to dangerous chemicals, chemicals sprayed on fruits and vegetables, pollution, second hand smoke, etc. differently.  However, you cannot tell me that it’s coincidence that 1300 so far, and obviously more by the way the phone calls are pouring into WFLA, have been diagnosed with cancer.  You would be hard pressed to randomly gather any 2200 people, the number of people that worked at the plant, and find that 1300 or more of them have cancer, unless you gather them from an Oncology clinic. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinions on this and you have given yours.  Bottom line is this - the Government would not have put this Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program in place if they weren’t aware of the danger that everyone was in.  The mere existence of this program basically says that the Government is telling on themselves.  They should be the ones having to prove that these people did not get cancer from working at these plants, the victims should not have to prove that they did.  Nobody ever recorded how much exposure they had to any particular chemical, they just did their jobs.  This program has millions of dollars allocated to it and is an open-ended fund that will be replenished should the money run out, which apparently won’t be the case since they refuse to pay anyone.  If that doesn’t tell you something, nothing will.

They try to calculate some dose of exposure dumped into some magic formula that nobody understands, based on minimal information that an employee can even provide.  They have these people right were they want them and they know it.  There is no way they can accurately report all the chemicals they were exposed to and for how long.  It’s ridiculous.

Another problem is that the Dept. of Labor or President Bush, or a combination, keep changing the rules.  One person’s mere skin cancer apparently, at one time, was enough to get full payment and a medical card to pay all the bills associated with the cancer, yet another person who has had skin cancer multiple times and has pancreatic and liver cancer does not get paid.  The person that just had the skin cancer was a manager and wasn’t back in the hot areas and got his money.  The people working in the hot areas haven’t gotten paid.  Then we had an HR person who had breast cancer and got her money and card.  She was never even near any of the chemicals and basically stayed in her little corner of HR at the front of the building.  She probably couldn’t even tell you what we made.

You may not be affected now, but you may be later.  The plant has been closed for a several years and many of these cancers have popped up over the past couple of years.  You should be supporting these folks that you used to work with and thank your lucky stars that you aren’t one of them (yet).

The EEOICP was designed to make it appear that the government was taking responsibility. Requiring people to prove what caused their cancer is a way to avoid responsibility.

Nobody knows exactly what causes cancer. Statistics are used to show that people who are exposed to certain things develop cancer at greater rates than those who are not exposed. Still, people who have no exposure to things that seem to increase the risk of developing cancer still develop cancer. Some people who have great exposure to these carcinogens never develop cancer.

I worked at the Pinellas Plant from 1991 through 1997, until it was closed down. Seven years later, in 2004, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and subsequently underwent surgery, chemo, and radiation. I investigated online and found that the Department of Labor had a site discussing exposure at Department of Energy facilities. They flatly stated that each person who had ever worked at the Pinellas Plant had been exposed to radioactive material. I should note here that I had no predecessors diagnosed with breast cancer, so I assumed my cancer was a consequence of my exposure at the Plant.

The Department of Labor, who is handling claims for compensation for damages by former Energy Department employees, responded to my filing a claim by sending me to a local facility for a checkup and to a lab for blood tests. Following this, they did a dose reconstruction, and determined that my claim should be denied because they did not feel it was likely that the cancer was caused by my employment at the plant. This was in spite of the fact that the breast cancer I had was one of the numerous types of cancers attributed to exposure to radioactive materials, and the fact that the time period between exposure and development of the cancer was right in the ballpark. Combine these two facts with the admission by Labor that everyone was exposed who had worked there made it seem more likely than not that the exposure contributed to the development of this cancer!

Since I, like most of the other employees at the plant, had no concrete idea of what kind of radioactive materials we were exposed to during our work, I had no idea of where to turn to contest the determination that the employment at the Plant was not the cause of the cancer. I have spoken to a few law firms for possible assistance, but have not been able to find one. I would welcome any suggestions on how to get either find a law firm that has been successful in these cases, or suggestions on how I could obtain an unbiased opinion of cause and effect. Has anyone been successful in geting the denial reversed? Would consulting a toxicologist help? I know that the number of compensations awarded by the Victims Compensation Fund is very small, so this is going to be an uphill battle.

Due to the development of the breast cancer and all of the treatments and side effects I experienced, I was forced to retire on disability, with a substantially reduced income and extremely high medical expenses. I strongly feel my government has not only let us down, but has turned it’s back on us, leaving us with the burden of having to prove that exposure caused the cancers, with no assistance from the government. I expected something mre than this after being exposed without our knowledge to these radioactive chemicals!

I worked at the Pinellas Plant from 1979 to 1997. 18 years. I have filed two claims. Neither for cancer. One for Asthma/Hyper Active Airway Disease and one for Peripheral Neuropathy. My case is still up in the air.  I am fighting back not with attorneys, but doctors.  You probably need to fined a physician that is Certified by the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME) or The American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians (AADEP). Setup an exam and ask them to render an opion as to the likely cause of your cancer. IF the opinion is that it “Is as likely as not” caused by your exposure at the Pinellas Plant. Then this is what you need to submit that to the D.O.L. Hope this helps.

OK.  The “word” is out (thanks to WFLA investigative reporters) about the Nuclear Workers” at the Pinellas Plant and how the government is probably failing to make sincere efforts to help those stricken with terrible diseases, most notably cancers.

Why should these workers trust the government? Congressman Young has not replied and I am sure he is not the only one.  After all, the one-hundred acre site situated in mid-Pinellas County is valuable.  It has had a lot of site clean-up done to it.

When I started there in the early 1960’s, several of us would go out at lunch time and enjoy the Florida weather.  We would often go out to the lake in the back and feed the turtles.  After a few years, all of a sudden there was a security guard at the lake.  Old “Sarge” yelled at us that the lake was now off limits.  Seems it was a dumping ground for various wastes and some of the drums started surfacing.

Want to read about some of the clean up?  Go to: http://www.clu-in.org/products/newsltrs/gwc/view.cfm?issue=gwc0698.htm

Around 1990, my cubical was in the southwest second floor engineering offices.  This was the corner of the main building closes to where the train crossing over Bryan Dairy Road was.  The first floor was completely emptied and contractors were removing soil from under the corner of the building.  It was a pretty good sized hole, probably forty feet along each corner, about twenty feet out and about ten feet deep.  Most of the workers were in full body protection suits.  There were a bunch of pipes down in the soil around the perimeter of the hole to pump out water.  Trucks moved the soil to along the fence next to the train right-of-way, making about a hundred feet of conical shaped mounds.

Finally, the pipes were pulled up out of the ground and not placed on a flat bed truck, but put inside a tank truck that had a sealable hatch.  As a crane lowered the pipes into the tank, I remember the man guiding the pipes wearing gloves and a hard hat.

New soil was brought in and the hole was gone.  However the mounds remained for a long time, perhaps a year or two.  Finally, one Monday morning the mounds were gone.  A co-worker told me that a relative up in the Carolinas saw a big bunch of loaded dump trucks with Florida tags heading into the mountains that weekend.

The story does not end there!  The area where the mounds were located was later fenced off and a special system installed to pump whatever the containments were back up to near the surface where other systems then collected and filtered them out.

This is just the tip of the iceberg!  I know a lot of cleanup was going on.  It was not all nuclear, as a number of chemicals were used at the Pinellas Pant, and a number of them are now identified as carcinogens.  So, who knows what caused and is causing the various illnesses that ex-employees have had and might still arise?

Think the cleanup was minimal? Cleanup and monitoring (read money being spent on the site) is still going on for the Pinellas Plant.  Call it “Legacy Management” or site remediation or whatever.  (See the bottom of this post.) The plant basically closed in 1995.

I ask the question again:  Why should these workers trust the government? There are secrets for national security and there are secrets to prevent employees and surrviors from knowing what really went on.

Money still being spent on the Pinellas Plant site (property):
STATEMENT OF
MICHAEL W. OWEN
DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF LEGACY MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND WATER COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 8, 2007

LM GOAL 1: PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT LONG-TERM SURVEILLANCE AND MAINTENANCE

Environmental surveillance and maintenance activities require approximately $40 million
in FY 2008. The Department’s environmental legacy responsibilities stem primarily
from the activities of the Department and predecessor agencies, particularly during World
War II and the Cold War. By the end of FY 2008, LM will be responsible for long-term
surveillance and maintenance activities at approximately 100 sites where active
environmental remediation has been completed. Throughout FY 2008, LM will also be
preparing for the transfer of additional sites including the Mound facility in Miamisburg,
Ohio. Due to the Continuing Resolution for FY 2007, the activities at sites proposed for
transfer from EM to LM in FY 2007 (Rocky Flats, Fernald, Columbus, and the eight
Nevada offsites) will be funded by EM, but the legacy activities will be managed by LM
Federal staff and contractors. Our FY 2008 request includes funding for all sites
transferred to LM in FY 2008. The majority of the sites under LM responsibility are
either Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) sites or sites associated
with the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).

In addition, LM currently has responsibility for five additional sites regulated under
either the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): the Weldon Spring
site in St. Charles County, Missouri; the Monticello site in Utah, the Laboratory for
Energy-Related Health Research (LEHR) in California, the Maxey Flats site in Kentucky
and the Bill Young-Rainey Science, Technology, and Research (STAR) Center in Largo,
Florida at the former Pinellas Plant site. With regard to the Pinellas site, regulatory
changes in Florida that allow a risk-based approach are expected to reduce the cost and
time to address the remaining Pinellas Plant groundwater issues. Excellent
communication and working relations between LM and the Florida regulators will lead to
predicted savings approaching $15 million from our projected baseline at the Pinellas
Plant over the next few years.

The plight of the Pinellas Plant’s ex-employeees are not new to Senator Bill Nelson’s office.  He had an aide, Sharah Anderson, attend the CDC/NIOSH meeting on November 2, 2005 (nearly two years ago) concerning the Pinellas Plant Site Profile.  The meeting was held in mid-Pinellas County.  Many of the ex-employees raised medical concerns at that meeting.

Hi Lew,

It’s obvious that you are doing your homework on all of this and I think that is great.  There needs to be MANY of us screaming about this.  I have no doubts that Senator Nelson is well aware of the plight of these ex-employees, however, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt (at least for 5 minutes or so ) and think that he possibly does not realize that the payments have suddenly seemed to stop.  He might also not be aware of how many people this has actually affected.  It’s hard to say, after all, he is a politician and they tell you what you want to hear.  At least he is talking, unlike Congressman Young.  After he was on the news yesterday, he’d look really bad if he didn’t follow through with his promise to look into all of this.

I have posed several questions to Steve Andrews on this, with the hope that he can drum up some answers to my questions.  They are as follows:

Have you been able to find any data on what timeframe people actually got paid?  It almost seems to me that they started paying people, then all of the sudden many people realized this program was in place, started filing claims, now everyone seems to be getting denied, at least at the Pinellas Plant.

Have you heard back from ANYONE at all that actually got this money and medical card or are they all in hiding, feeling guilty after they’ve seen what everyone else is going through?  (I know for a fact that one person that got his money actually didn’t even file paperwork.  The D.O.L. called him after they somehow found out about his skin cancer.  He answered the questions over the phone and he got his money).

Also, I’d be curious to find out when the payments stopped coming.  Was it when the war started or have some payments been paid since then?  I’m wondering if there is some event that can be pinned to the date payments seemed to stop being distributed.

Is this public record where you can get the names of the people that have been paid and when they got paid?  Also, how fast did they get paid?  After their paperwork was submitted, what was the turn around time of receiving their payments?  If one person got his payment for skin cancer, then why can’t we get a copy of his paperwork to see how he filed?  Obviously he used the “right words” or just happened to put his paperwork in at the “right time”, or they’ve changed the rules and one person’s cancer suddenly isn’t the same as someone else’s. 

Has anyone gone back into that plant and examined the rafters, air conditioning ducts, walls, baseboards, stairwells, ceilings, pipes, etc. to see if there is any radioactive material anywhere in that plant?  I bet you could find something in there somewhere. 

These are just a few of the questions that I asked yesterday.  Steve is trying to get some answers, if he can, but we all know that dealing with the Government is like talking to yourself!

At any rate, keep on digging.

Laura Shives