Delegates working to include Nevadans in compensation bill

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation is scrambling to find out if ailing Nevada Test Site workers will be covered by a new federal compensation plan for laborers who built the nation's nuclear arsenal.

In a letter, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson urged Congress to approve a sweeping plan to compensate the nation's nuclear weapons laborers for work-related health problems. The letter, dated Sept. 18, was sent to Rep. Floyd Spence, R-Tenn., a leading negotiator on the panel debating the compensation plan.

Richardson wrote that the Clinton administration supports compensation for workers exposed to "beryllium, radiation and certain toxic substances."

But that created some confusion. Some of Nevada's nuclear workers who labored in the tunnels under the Nevada Test Site suffered from silicosis, caused by breathing silica in dust that can cause lung scarring.

"I'm very confident we'll be able to include those workers," Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said. "We're working hard to get this program established. We don't want to eliminate anyone."

But not everyone is so sure.

Richardson's letter was directed at a panel of House and Senate negotiators -- budget hawks who are hammering out the details of the plan, estimated to cost between $1.8 billion and $2.4 billion over five years. None of Nevada's delegates is on the panel, forcing them to merely lobby on behalf of Nevada workers.

The panel has been waiting for the Clinton administration to clarify where the president stands on which workers should be included.

"The administration hasn't formally closed and sent its recommendation on that," David Michaels, DOE's top health official, said.

But Michaels also said silicosis victims have "a very good shot."

House Republican leaders have been reluctant to approve the money for silicosis victims, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. Reid said coverage for silicosis victims would be a "tough sell," because House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, and Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, were sweating the cost.

"I don't know how you can put a pricetag on health," Reid said. "I know what it's like to hear people cough their lungs out, literally."

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., agreed the White House seems behind the silicosis provision.

"Our concern is the Republicans in the House have raised this as an issue," Bryan said. "I would hope that the House Republicans would all recognize the justice of this."