Lung disease screenings available

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 11:06 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Energy Department employees who helped dig tunnels at Yucca Mountain can get free screenings for the lung disease silicosis through a new department program.

Current and former workers are eligible for the new Silicosis Screening Program announced by the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Office on Thursday.

The $500,000 prgrogam will offer free screenings to employees who worked in the tunneling and other underground operations at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The department dug the tunnels as a part of its plan to store 77,000 tons of nuclear waste there.

"Not only is the DOE willing to jeopardize the public health and environmental safety of Nevadans, but now, because they ignored regulatory limits, their own employees have also been put at risk," said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., in a statement. "While I appreciate the fact that the DOE is stepping up to provide free screening to project employees, the problems with the Yucca Mountain boondoggle just continue to mount."

The program will include a work history interview, a medical exam and worker notification. Up to 1,500 workers may be offered participation.

Silica, a natural mineral in the rock and desert land making up Yucca Mountain, can collect in a person's respiratory system if inhaled and cause silicosis. As workers dug tunnels at the site, the dust particles of the mineral could become airborne and inhaled, putting them at risk for the chronic lung disease. The most visible systems are coughing and shortness of breath, according to the department.

Employees sent letters to department officials requesting the program since there was such a risk. Department spokesman Joe Davis said it investigated the concerns and decided to create the screening program as a followup.

"It's the right thing to do," Davis said.

From 1992 to 2000 work at the site caused more than legal limits of airborne silica and proper protection was not always used, according to the department.

The University of Cincinnati and The Center to Protect Workers' Rights will work to contact former Yucca Mountain workers through trade unions and other organized labor forces.