Re: Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial on Compensating Victims of DOE Operations

["Jerry Cohen" <jjcohen@prodigy.net>]

     ->:" Once these people have been identified, the government should
provide
for their health care for the rest of their lives"<

How do we identify these affected  people? Once toxic and/or radioactive
contamination is released from
its source, it can migrate with the winds and waters to literally everywhere
on earth. To some extent, everyone is affected. Should we all be
compensated? If not, how do we determine who should and should not be?
Sometimes I don't feel well. Where can I go to collect?



-----Original Message-----
From: Spikepsych1@aol.com <Spikepsych1@aol.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Monday, May 29, 2000 1:00 PM
Subject: Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial on Compensating Victims of DOE
Operations


>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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