Yucca official to address failed protection of workers

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Yucca Mountain Project's top official, two former workers and a cancer specialist and experts in worker safety will address the Energy Department's failure to protect employees from silica exposure at a Senate hearing in Las Vegas next week.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds the Energy Department, announced the witnesses today for Monday's hearing. He called for the hearing after the department admitted last month that it knew silica, which can cause the lung disease silicosis, existed at Yucca Mountain, but officials did not require workers digging a tunnel or mining rock there to wear protective gear to protect against silica.

Workers dug a tunnel at Yucca as part of the department's research to study the site's ability to store nuclear waste. It plans to open a federal repository there in 2010.

Gene Griego, a former Yucca Mountain worker who suffers from chronic lung problems and has documented 25 other workers who have silicosis or symptoms, will testify at the hearing as well as Jeff Dean, another former mine worker with silicosis who was assured dust levels were safe, according to Reid's office.

Margart Chu, the department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management director, who oversees the entire project, will also testify. She sent a letter to Reid last month saying the department did not take safety precautions when workers were digging.

Also scheduled to provide testimony are Dr. Nick Vogelzang, director of the Nevada Cancer Institute who has experience with silicosis, Mike Taylor, an industrial hygienist who specializes in providing clean and healthy industrial work environments and was responsible for monitoring work conditions at Yucca and Jim Weeks, a silicosis specialist and consultant for the United Mine Workers.

"I believe the information we know now is just the tip of the iceberg and there is much more to come," Reid said. "It appears that DOE knowingly exposed these workers to a health hazard, and I want to hear Dr. Chu's explanation for how this could have happened."

The public hearing is set for 10 a.m. on March 15 in the Commission Chambers at the Clark County Government Building, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.