Two class-action lawsuits have now been filed against companies doing work at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio since a nearby middle school was closed due to the potential spread of radioactive contamination.
On June 28, two individuals who have long lived within 2 miles of the former gaseous diffusion plant filed suit against Centrus Energy and its predecessor firm, United States Enrichment Corp. (USEC); Bechtel Jacobs; Uranium Disposition Services; LATA/Parallax Portsmouth; and Mid-America Conversion Services.
USEC conducted uranium enrichment from 1993 to 2001 at Portsmouth and was then responsible for keeping the gaseous diffusion plant in safe condition until 2011; Bechtel Jacobs managed site remediation from 1995 until 2005; UDS was contracted in 2002 to design and build the uranium hexafluoride conversion plant, which Mid-America Conversion was contracted to operate starting in 2016.
The suit, filed by the Columbus, Ohio-based law firm LeistWarner, claims vendors failed to prevent off-site radioactive contamination that poses a threat to public health. The lawsuit also seeks to represent others who live within 7 miles of the former uranium enrichment facility and current cleanup site.
A local residents’ group asserts 247 cancer cases have been reported within a 6-mile radius of the plant, although it did not specify any time frame, according to the case filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Plaintiffs Ray Pritchard and Sharon Melick each live in Beaver, Ohio, not far from Zahn’s Corner Middle School. They say off-site contamination made their homes unsafe and hurt property values, according to the lawsuit. They are seeking medical monitoring, reimbursement of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses linked to contamination at Portsmouth, and recovery of economic losses.
A similar lawsuit was filed May 27 with the same court on behalf of two local families, including one with a child enrolled at Zahn’s Corner when it closed early for summer break on May 13 due to traces of neptunium and enriched uranium at the school. The local education board has since said the school will stay closed for the 2019-2020 academic year, with its students disbursed elsewhere.
Uranium isotopes have also turned up in the livers of deer killed by car crashes near the Portsmouth Site, according to the lawsuit.
The first case, by Cleveland law firm Spangenberg Shibley & Liber, seeks to represent both residents living near the Portsmouth Site as well as students, faculty, and staff at the affected middle school since 1993.
The most recent case was first reported Saturday by Huntington News Net, an online newspaper in West Virginia.
Ohio Recommends Local Firm for Portsmouth-Area Sampling
The Pike County, Ohio, General Health District recommends using Solutient Technologies for an independent third-party assessment of contamination levels around the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site.
The Canton, Ohio-based firm is licensed through the Ohio Department of Health to perform this type of sampling and analysis, Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster said in a Tuesday email. It was unclear if the Pike County choice must still be approved by the state agency
Brewster did not list any timetable or cost information for the firm’s sampling and analysis, or what type of samples – such as air or dust – will be taken. Solutient Technologies will send samples to a DOE national laboratory for additional study. Once the data is analyzed, the National Academy of Sciences will help state and local officials perform a health risk assessment and issue a public report.
Research on water, and soil samples by Northern Arizona University suggest the contaminants came from the former uranium enrichment plant site. While the Energy Department says only trace amounts, far too small to threaten human health, have been detected, it will pay for the upcoming sampling.
The county health department is not a party to either of the recent lawsuits, Brewster said in his email.
The county will wait for results of the third-party sampling, and the samples taken over Memorial Day weekend by the Energy Department, before it considers asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to do a cancer cluster study around Piketon.
Solutient Technologies is a veteran-owned small business that provides a wide scope of radiological services, environmental consulting, and remediation for government and corporate clients.
