09.19.04

Cantwell Urges Extension of Expiring Federal Health Screening Program for Former Hanford Workers Exposed to Radiation and Other Toxins

Medical care for 3,000 former Hanford workers jeopardized if program expires

SEATTLE, WA – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today met with former Hanford workers in her Seattle office to discuss the looming expiration of a program providing important medical services for them to treat illnesses resulting from exposure to radiation and other toxic materials during their employment at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which produced plutonium used in the nation's World War II and Cold War defense efforts. Unless the Department of Energy (DOE) extends the program, it will expire in March. Without it, an estimated 3,000 former Hanford workers would lose their opportunity for medical screening and compensation - including more than 525 who have already been turned away as the clinic prepares to shut down its services.

After the meeting, Cantwell announced that she will block the nomination of John Shaw to be Assistant Secretary for Environmental Health and Safety for DOE unless the health screening program is extended. Shaw's confirmation hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on which Cantwell sits.

"The Former Worker Medical Screening Program is vital to all those who risked their health and life to help win the Cold War by working at Hanford," Cantwell said. "Taking care of these veterans of the Cold War who worked in hazardous positions is the right thing to do. We must honor their commitment to their country by giving them the best health care possible."

DOE has proposed replacing the screening program with a new, less personalized version that would offer fewer services and less assistance to workers. DOE initially planned to put that program in place by October 2004. However, the revised program remains in limbo, leaving former Hanford workers nowhere to go for health screenings. Cantwell, the workers, and their doctor all support extending the current program which has worked well for 7,035 former Hanford workers.

Cantwell also believes DOE should expand the program to provide independent medical monitoring for current employees at the Hanford Tank Farms, which have recently been plagued by a series of worker exposures to potentially dangerous chemical vapors. The Tank Farms consist of 177 large, underground storage tanks that contain approximately 53 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste generated during Hanford's years as a defense production site. In July, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) issued a report that "determined a potential for significant occupational exposures and health effects from vapors released from the hazardous waste storage tanks." Among NIOSH's recommendations was the establishment of a medical screening program for these workers. Already, other sites within the DOE complex have similar programs for current employees.