PRESS RELEASE

FROM: Janet Michel

Coalition for a Healthy Environment, 423/966-5918

July 27, 1998

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH GROUP SEEKS ANSWERS AND ASKS FOR HELP

Do you think the ill workers and residents in Oak Ridge, Tennessee are all OK since you haven't heard much about them in the news recently?

Do you think the world's largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin (LM), protects its employees and takes care of them if they are hurt on the job?

Do you think the Federal government would harm its citizens?

Do you believe the Department of Energy (DOE) is always in compliance, as they repeatedly told the Joint Environment Committee of the Tennessee General Assembly in March 1997?

Do you believe the State of Tennessee has YOUR interests in mind?

Do you think the State and EPA levy appropriate fines for environmental violations in Oak Ridge?

Then think again! The state of accountability and responsibility is abysmal. Not one thing has changed in the almost 3 years that we have been struggling for medical care, disability benefits, answers, and accountability.

Consider: When concerned workers and residents ask questions on the environment and health in Oak Ridge, we are told (a) DOE keeps excellent records and keeps track of everything; and (b) DOE is in compliance with the regulations. However, when we see repeated patterns of poor record keeping and repeated notices of violation, we become alarmed.

Consider:

1. Ill workers had high urine thiocyanate labs results when they were at K-25. The levels went to zero or the normal range when they left.

2. The workers were told there was no cyanide on site, but have found numerous documents showing it and other related compounds were present.

3. While the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel (BuRP) was investigating the ill workers' concerns and the operation of the incinerator, the State, DOE, and LM KNEW about a violation of the incinerator permit that involved cyanide and SAID NOTHING.

4. Letters to the Governor protesting the BuRP members were met with assurance that everyone was independent. The BuRP Chair, Parker, was and is a DOE consultant.

5. DOE's contractor, LM, mistakenly and illegally labeled and stored waste (derived from cyanide) for 5 years. Then, they illegally burned it. The maximum fine for this is $50,000/day/violation. The state fined DOE only $24,250 - TOTAL

6. After 1 yr. 10 months, the Occupational Medicine doctors hired by LM still have not completed their INTERIM reports on the ill K-25 workers, They are, only now, requesting lab tests to confirm the presence of toxins. We have been told by specialists that these doctors are choosing tests that are unlikely to reveal the damages suffered. It appears that the doctors' silence has been bought.

7. Several of the ill workers who are suffering symptoms of metals contamination have laboratory data showing heavy metals in their bodies. Although this has been reported, LM has not allowed the Workers Compensation to proceed.

8. Some of the workers have been unable to get disability benefits in spite of copious documentation from their doctors.

9. The workers are dying; going blind; in constant pain; having near misses with death; and having difficulty with walking, talking, and thinking.

10. The Oak Ridge Reservation was declared a Superfund site in 1989, yet DOE has never allowed a health study to be done even though such a study is required by Federal law.

11. Workers in Oak Ridge are routinely fired by DOE and LM for raising safety, environment, and health concerns. Former Secretary of Energy O'Leary confirmed in a taped deposition that workers who expose problems at nuclear weapons plants and labs are harassed and undermined by their bosses.

Consider: "The only victims of the U.S. nuclear arms race since World War II have been our own people."--House Investigations Subcommittee (1980)

After almost 3 years, The Coalition for a Healthy Environment is still asking questions, seeking answers, and looking for medical assistance. Does anyone care? Can anyone help us?