Finally, a deal for ill nuke workers

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Oct. 6, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers in Congress struck a deal Thursday that would compensate nuclear weapons workers who fell ill because of their Cold War efforts.

After much on-again, off-again debate -- public and private -- House and Senate negotiators agreed Thursday night to give workers or their surviving families $150,000 plus future medical costs. House lawmakers were finalizing the details today.

"I'm pleased they are going to compensate these men," said Dorothy Clayton of Henderson, whose husband, Glenn, died last year after battling five cancers. He worked in the tunnels of the Nevada Test Site and was exposed to radiation from underground nuclear bomb tests.

"It will go a long way to help compensate us for expenses that have already been paid out," Clayton said.

Nevada lawmakers were pleased to note the compensation agreement includes victims of silicosis. Estimates indicate roughly 800 Test Site workers who worked in underground mines have silicosis, a lung disease.

According to the agreement, the president by March 15 must offer his opinion of exactly which workers should be compensated and for how much, which means the president could feasibly withdraw silicosis victims. Nevada's Democratic members in Congress are optimistic Clinton or presidential contender Al Gore would include them. Nevada Republican Jim Gibbons said he thought George W. Bush also would include silicosis sufferers.

"We have taken a giant step toward helping the Test Site workers and those affected by their Cold War nuclear activity," Gibbons said. "It's about time."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she was "reasonably satisfied" with the deal, given that some had speculated the issue would not be resolved this year.

"This is a good beginning," Berkley said.

Nevada's lawmakers had advocated a plan that paid workers $200,000, but seemed pleased with the final hour compromise.

"We'll take what we can get," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

The plan covers both Department of Energy and contracted workers who were employed for at least 250 days. Payments would begin with the start of next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2001.

The agreement struck Thursday by a panel of Senate-House negotiators is still subject to final approval by the full House and Senate, which is likely.

The agreement ended debate between lawmakers who had ill workers in their home states and House Republican leaders who were reluctant to approve the entitlement program, estimated now to cost $1.4 billion over 10 years. At least 4,000 workers nationwide would qualify for compensation.

Energy Department officials in April for the first time admitted that the government had knowingly harmed workers who were working with dangerous materials as they were constructing and testing the nation's nuclear arsenal.

Clayton in the past few weeks organized a grass-roots effort to e-mail and fax lawmakers who were working on the agreement on Capitol Hill.

"This is wonderful news, especially since last week we thought it was dead -- that's what the word was," Clayton said. "We weren't going to let it die."