June 18, 2010 :NWLP
6/15/10
10:10 AM
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Inspectors fault beryllium safety at Hanford Nuclear Reservation
By MARIAN WANG
No one said cleaning up a Cold War-
era bomb factory was without its haz-
ards. But weaknesses in a program to
protect workers from a toxic metal may
have exposed them to avoidable risk,
according to a newly released report by
the Department of Energy (DOE).
These findings confirm prior report-
ing done by ProPublica, which pointed
out lapses or gaps in beryllium testing
at the site and beryllium training for
workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reser-
vation in Washington state. At Hanford
and at other nuclear cleanup sites
around the country, thousands of addi-
tional workers have been hired, thanks
to billions in federal stimulus funds.
The report cited “management
weaknesses,” namely a perception
among some managers that recently di-
agnosed cases of disease are a result of
past exposures. It also said that the sites
of potential beryllium contamination
are not always identified.
From the DOE report, released June
2: “[T]here continue to be newly-diag-
nosed cases of beryllium sensitization
and CBD among current and former
Hanford workers. New cases of sensiti-
zation and CBD are not necessarily the
result of deficiencies in the current pro-
gram, because a newly-discovered case
could be the result of a past exposure.
Nevertheless, because of the weak-
nesses in the recent and current imple-
mentation of [Chronic Beryllium Dis-
ease Prevention Program] controls
(e.g., inadequate facility characteriza-
tions known areas of contamination
that are not well controlled) and the on-
going discovery of new sources of
beryllium, the possibility that new
cases are resulting from recent expo-
sures cannot be ruled out.”
Beryllium was used for decades in
the production process for nuclear
weapons, and its legacy of contamina-
tion still lingers in the dust at many old
plutonium processing sites.
The report pointed out that air sam-
pling shows beryllium levels are low,
and the use of protective equipment has
helped workers limit exposure. But as
ProPublica has reported, even breath-
ing minuscule amounts of beryllium
dust can trigger chronic beryllium dis-
ease in some people with sensitivities
to the metal, and when it does, the con-
sequences can be deadly.
The report also faulted the site’s
medical contractor for not doing a re-
quired analysis of cases of beryllium
sensitivity or chronic beryllium disease
LERC to host Summer Institute for Union Women July 6-10
The 29th Annual Western Regional
Summer Institute for Union Women
will take place at Reed College in Port-
land July 6-10.
The Institute offers a mix of train-
ing, cultural events, and team-building
exercises for union women, designed to
strengthen their leadership skills and
build their knowledge about the chal-
lenges facing the labor movement in
the 21st century.
National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treas-
urer Liz Shuler will be a keynote
speaker at the plenary session July 7 at
JUNE 18, 2010
7 p.m. Joining her will be Angie Schira
of the British Columbia Federation of
Labour and Mary Beth Maxwell from
the U.S. Department of Labor.
The plenary is open to the public.
Core courses throughout the week
include Politics Matter — What’s at
Stake for Working Women?; Building
an Economy that Works for Workers;
Effective Leadership Skills; Building
Power Through Our Members and Al-
lies; Effective Communications —
Finding Our Union Voice; and Negoti-
ating for Work Family Balance in
Tough Times.
Six-hour workshops are Singing for
the Union; The Art and Noise of Street
Heat; Storytelling to Build the Union;
Women in Labor History; Generational
Unity to Build a Stronger Movement;
One World for Justice — Local Action
to Support International Solidarity;
Survival Strategies and Support Net-
works in Non-Traditional Jobs; and
Racial Justice — Breaking Through the
Barriers that Divide Us.
The Institute is co-sponsored annu-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
ally by the United Association for La-
bor Education. This year the event is
co-hosted by the University of Oregon
Labor Education and Research Center
and the Washington State Labor Edu-
cation and Research Center at the Ever-
green State College.
Women members, stewards, offi-
cers, and staff from any private or pub-
lic sector union are invited to attend.
For more information, contact He-
len Moss at 503-412-3722; or by e-
mail at: hmoss@uoregon.edu.
discovered in the past two years. Such
analysis could have helped determine
whether additional protective action
was needed to ensure the health and
safety of workers.
According to The Associated Press,
more than 160 workers have been di-
agnosed with sensitivity to beryllium or
with the disabling and potentially fatal
disease, which gradually robs victims
of lung capacity.
Tom Peterson is one former Han-
ford worker who has the disease. He
called the Department of Energy’s re-
port “very positive,” but said that im-
plementing the inspectors’ recommen-
dations for fixing the program will be
“the hardest job of all.”
“It’s probably one of the best reports
that I have seen,” Peterson said. “Man,
I just hope it works. That’s the bottom
line. We owe it to the workers to take
care of them so they don’t have to
worry about being exposed, and the
ones that are already exposed, we have
to take care of them.”
(Editor’s Note: This article was
reprinted with permission from Pro-
Publica, an independent, nonprofit on-
line newsroom that produces investiga-
tive journalism in the public interest.
Marian Wang can be reached at mar-
ian.wang@ propublica.org.)
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