Data from a qualified, independent agency may be needed to resolve concerns over chemical vapors at the Hanford Site in Washington state, a former top site manager said Thursday at a union hall forum to discuss the situation. The forum in Pasco – organized by Hanford Challenge, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598, and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson – drew a crowd of about 200 people, ranging from Hanford workers to multiple candidates running for state offices.
Mike Lawrence, manager of the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office from 1984-90, said a significant number of workers are experiencing health effects and there could be a correlation with toxic fumes from chemicals. The Department of Energy and its experts say they cannot measure chemicals in vapors at levels that would cause a problem, at least by industry standards, Lawrence said.
“The issue is fundamentally that those reports from contractors, DOE, or its experts lack credibility in many people’s minds,” he said. Even the latest chemical vapor report led by the Savannah River National Laboratory lacks credibility for some workers because the lab is part of the DOE complex, Lawrence said. If DOE and the state could agree on an independent third party, such as the University of Washington School of Public Health, to study the issue, the results would be more likely to be considered credible, he said. Workers applauded his suggestion.
More than 50 workers at the DOE site have undergone medical checks in recent months for possible exposure to chemical vapors from waste stored in underground tanks. The chemical and radioactive waste was a byproduct of decades of plutonium production operations for the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
James Hart, president of the AFL-CIO national Metal Trades Department, said he had combed through the death records for workers at Local 598, the Hanford pipefitters’ union, and seen a disturbing trend. He found significant numbers of workers in the last 30 years who died before the age of 65 from lung disease or cancer, he said. Maybe the issue of toxic vapors exposure at the Hanford tank farms could not be fixed in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, according to Hart, but “I know we can fix that today. There are things we can do,” he said. When one worker at the forum said younger workers were afraid to raise tank vapor concerns, Hart said his national department has the back of any member of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council. If workers do not want to speak up, his department will speak up for them, he said.
The fact that a lawsuit has been filed against DOE and its tank farm contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), is a victory, according to Hart. Workers’ voices are being heard, he said. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington by the state of Washington, Local 598, and Hanford Challenge. The filing came after WRPS had started to make changes based on the Savannah River National Laboratory report. Ferguson said he reached the conclusion that if tank vapor problems had persisted for decades despite more than a dozen reports written to address the situation, one more report was not going to make a difference. “I am 100 percent committed to legal action,” he said. The only acceptable outcome is a safe work environment at Hanford, he said.
Several workers, former workers, or their survivors told stories of being caught in clouds of tank vapors and falling sick. The most frequently mentioned medical conditions were chronic breathing-related illnesses and neurological illnesses, including the brain condition toxic encephalopathy. Dave Klug described walking out of a tank farm control room into a cloud of vapors at the C Tank Farm in January 2010. Smelling vapors used to be a daily occurrence that employees would work through. But that night the vapors took his breath away, Klug said. His chest felt tight and he lost feeling in his face. Klug said he was not well enough to return to work for 11 months. Now he has 30 percent permanent disability due to reactive airway disease and occupational asthma.
Another former worker, Dianna Gegg, said her life changed when she was 600 yards away from a reported vapor incident in 2007. Symptoms such as dizziness and a metallic taste in her mouth developed within hours. Within a week she was having trouble with her vision. Nine years later she has been diagnosed with neurotoxicity and toxic encephalopathy, but Hanford leaders deny there is an issue, she said. Rick Jansons, a former Hanford worker and candidate for the state House of Representatives, said he was exposed to vapors three times and developed no systems. But that does not mean others are safe, he said. Everyone has a different level of sensitivity and it is obvious that people, including workers he supervised and knows to be honest, are among those made ill by chemical vapors, he said.
Workers at the forum said they did not believe Hanford officials were taking the matter seriously or believed them. The Department of Energy has said that all air samples analyzed from the breathing zone of workers since 2005 have been below occupational limits set to keep workers safe. It also has pointed out that all workers evaluated for possible exposure to chemical vapors since late April have been released to return to work when Hanford’s medical provider could detect no symptoms. Medical checks were followed up with blood tests to confirm results.
Steven Gilbert, director of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders and a Hanford Challenge board member, said it is not known what chemicals are causing health problems. “It is a soup out there. It is a witch’s brew of chemicals in the tanks,” he said. “You do not know what you have inhaled.” The responsibility to keep workers safe from the chemicals falls on DOE, he said.
