Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial on Compensating Victims of DOE Operations

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Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial, May 29, 2000: It's time for justice:  The 
US Government needs to take responsibility for Oak Ridge illnesses
 
     This newspaper has covered pollution problems at the Department of
 Energy's Oak Ridge facilities the way other newspapers cover the police
 beat.  Daily.  Weekly.  Monthly, Year in and year out.  Down through the
 decades.
 
     The accretion of horror stories through the years has desensitized some
 people in our community, who now view such stories as more of the same.
 
     There are also a lot of positive developments in Oak Ridge.  We join the
 business community in cheering the privatization of former federal
 facilities, the growth of high-tech companies and the promise embedded in
 the recent affiliation of the University of Tennessee with the Oak Ridge
 National Laboratory.
 
     But there are those who see looking back as harmful to the
 forward-looking image we want to project.  We understand those feelings, and
 we wish it were possible not to look back.  But justice and fairness require
 us to step back and look at the sweep, the breadth and the impact the years
 of environmental abuse have had on our citizens.
 
     It is breathtaking to contemplate the casual indifference or ignorance
 which led workers being put at risk and the natural environment raped.  It
 is time that the federal government owned up to its responsibilities in Oak
 Ridge and in every other community in which its Cold War secret operations
 have had a similar result.  There have been a variety of contractors over
 the years, but each worked for the federal government carrying out its
 missions.  It is a federal responsibility.
 
     There is legislation before Congress which might finally compensate some
 of the people who are sick as a result of workplace exposure to toxic
 substances at government facilities.  It isn't enough.
 
     Here's what's enough:
 
     - It isn't just the workers.  Anyone living near the DOE reservation who
 is identified with similar ailments must be included.  The dumping of toxic
 wastes into streams flowing through the reservation and into the Clinch
 River and Watts Bar Lake is well-documented, to say nothing of the toxic
 material that may have been carried through the air.
 
     - The government must contract with a major medical facility to screen,
 identify and treat those who have been harmed.  In our area, we suggest
 University of Tennessee Medical Center, which is also an outstanding
 research institution.  It is essential that the independent experts
 determine the cause.  A research hospital is ideal because there is a great
 deal yet to be learned about the effects of radiation, heavy metals, and
 other toxins.
 
     - Once these people have been identified, the government should provide
 for their health care for the rest of their lives.  One can appreciate the
 reluctance of the government to provide blanket coverage, but if these
 people are sick and out of work, they will be treated and the cost will most
 likely be borne by TennCare, SSI, or Medicare.  It is more appropriate that
 the government establish a special fund and pay for its mess rather than
 shift the problem to other programs or to the state.
 
     - The burden of proof should be more the government's problem than that
 of the sick people.  First of all, we don't think people contract beryllium
 disease in order to get health care.  And we don't think people who dumped
 toxic waste into creeks and rivers are very reliable sources when it comes
 to record-keeping.  We think it ludicrous for a person with brain lesions to
 be asked to prove that someone else left a glob of mercury on his table two
 decades ago.
 
     - The government should make lump-sum payments to the relatives of
 people who have died as a result of exposure to toxic substances.  This
 should include consideration for lost pension benefits when a federal
 retiree dies prematurely.
 
     Our delegation should also remember that time is of the essence.  It is
 literally a matter of life and death.
 
 (KNS Editorial Board:  Harry Moskos, Editor; Lara Edge, Managing Editor;
 Frank Cagle, Associate Editor; Hoyt Canady, Editorial Page Editor.) 
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