Des Moines Register
03/01/06
Planned aid cuts concern weapons workers
Changes could affect compensation for former employees of the
Ames Laboratory and their families.
ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Virginia Carlson is thankful her lung cancer was caught early through screening
that is part of a federal program to compensate former weapons workers and
their families.
"It's very rare to find it so early. If I'd waited another six months . . . ," said
Carlson, 83, of Ames. Her husband, Norman, who worked with uranium at the
Ames Laboratory, died of lung cancer in 1993.
Former nuclear workers — such as those at the Ames Laboratory — may have a
harder time receiving government compensation for illnesses they developed
from their work if cost-saving changes are approved, worker advocates said.
President Bush's proposed 2007 budget would cut $4 million from a $16.5 million
fund used to screen former workers and their families.
Also, a congressional hearing today in Washington, D.C., is to include talks about
a White House memo that discusses cutting the cost of a compensation program
that has paid out more than $1.3 billion since its creation in 2000.
"I think it would be a shame if the process of compensation becomes political
instead of scientific," said Laurence Fuortes, a University of Iowa professor of
occupational health who coordinates health screening for the Department of
Labor.
Former workers at scores of sites around the country would be affected by
proposed cuts, Fuortes said.
"Tens of thousands is a very conservative number,'' he said, referring to former
nuclear workers.
Under legislation approved by Congress, people found to have been made ill by
their work with nuclear weapons components are to receive $150,000 in
compensation and medical care.
About 350 former workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown
started receiving payment last year because of work-related cancers.
Thousands of former workers at the Ames Laboratory and other Iowa sites could
go without screening for these work-related diseases if the program's budget is
cut in 2007, Fuortes said. The cuts could decrease the number of staff, who do
health screenings and help former workers — most of whom are elderly — file
claims for compensation, he said.
Another Iowa implication is how former workers would become eligible for
compensation, Fuortes said.
The 350 Middletown workers approved for compensation last year were included
as part of a Special Exposure Cohort , which provides automatic approval for
people who have had one of 22 types of cancer.
Groups from Kentucky, Ohio, Alaska and Tennessee have also been designated
as Special Exposure Cohorts.
A memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget made public
last month shows that future cohorts may not be approved automatically; they
may instead require more scrutiny, such as approval from the White House.
"It's really about trying to get someone to give them a contradictory opinion if they
want to deny a special cohort," said Richard Miller, a policy analyst with the
Government Accountability Project. He will testify at the congressional hearing
today.
When asked about the proposed changes, the Office of Management and Budget
released this statement:
"As a multi-agency program, (the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act ) needs close coordination of its partner agencies to
make sure it benefits workers and complies with congressional intent. . . . In
calling for better coordination among agencies, the Administration's goal is to
make sure workers get the benefits they deserve, that the program works as
efficiently as possible, and that agencies comply with the law."
The Labor Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Concerns about future funding are not stalling Iowa efforts to reach more former
workers at the Ames Laboratory. Lab staff have invited 2,900 former workers to
attend public forums later this month in which Labor Department representatives
will explain the worker compensation program.
The forums are at 7 p.m. March 20 and at 2:30 p.m. March 21 Both will be held
at the Hotel at Gateway Center in Ames.
Illness claims in Iowa
The Department of Labor has paid 575 claims, totaling $51.3 million, to former
workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown as part of the Energy
Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, Part B. The
department has paid 19 claims, totaling $1.8 million, to former Ames Laboratory
workers, according to the department's Web site.
Iowa's connection to the Manhattan Project
The Ames Laboratory played a key role in the Manhattan Project, a top-secret
government effort aimed at creating a self-sustaining nuclear reaction - the first
atomic bomb. The history of the Manhattan Project, provided by Steve Karsjen,
manager of public affairs at the Ames Laboratory:
1942: Frank Spedding, a well-known rare-earth chemist and professor at Iowa
State College, was invited to participate in the top-secret Metallurgical Project which became the Manhattan Project - at the University of Chicago.
AUGUST 1942: Spedding instructed scientists at Iowa State to do a "bomb
reduction," which paired uranium with uranium tetraflouride and calcium. The
materials were put in a beryllium container and heated. The denser, pure
uranium sank to the bottom of the container and formed what they called a
biscuit.
DEC. 2, 1942: Scientists in Chicago produced the first successful nuclear
reaction using the purified uranium.
JULY 1943: The Ames lab was producing 130,000 pounds of uranium a month
at the program's peak. The lab produced 2 million pounds of uranium for the war
effort between 1942 and 1946.
DECEMBER 1945: Other sites take over the uranium purification process.
Former workers in some of those places are seeking compensation for diseases.
MAY 17, 1947: The Atomic Energy Commission awarded the contract for the
Ames Laboratory to Iowa State University.
NOW: The lab does materials research for the U.S. Department of Energy.