Mar. 31, 2004 - 17:49 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

A Million There

In the Rocky Mountain News this morning, an article by Ann Imse of the Rocky Mountain News is sickeningly interesting.

"Millions spent; 1 worker aided"

"$74 million DOE program to help sick nuclear plant employees called 'failure."

"The Department of Energy program to compensate sick nuclear weapons plant workers has cost $74 million of taxpayers funds -- and only one worker has been paid. That one person in Washington state has received $15,000."

"The $74 million has gone to paperwork involved in deciding whether workers were sickened by radiation or toxic chemicals on the job."

"The DOE says it wants another $76 million for this year and next and a few legislative tweaks in the program. With that , DOE Undersecretary Robert Card said Tuesday, a few hundred more sick workers should be paid by the end of the year."

"Congress created the compensation program in 2000, saying nuclear bomb workers, including those at Rocky Flats outside Denver, put their lives on the line for the nation's defense. "Many died young. Others ended up with huge medical bills for cancer and other illnesses they blame on their jobs."

"The DOE and the Senate Energy Committee said the agency has received $74 million to administer the program."

"So where has the money gone ?"

"The DOE and its contractors are obliged to track down scarce documents, some decades old, on individual workers' exposure to deadly materials used in bomb-making. A panel of physicians makes the final decision on whether an illness or death was job-related."

"Of 23,000 applications in nearly four years, DOE has rejected about 5 percent and moved ahead on 1 percent, according to testimony Tuesday from the General Accounting Office."

"The progam's problems started with the complex procedures outlined in the law. Then, more workers than expected applied. On top of that, DOE took two years to write the program rules."

"Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa said, "The Energy Department's problems are not going to be solved by throwing more money in a black hole." "During the hearing, Grassley criticized DOE's no-bid contractor, Science and Engineering Associates. He said, "It is billing the Energy Department $72,000 a year for a mail room clerk and $400,000 a year for the program manager."

"The compensation program has a second half run by the Department of Labor. It uses federal funds to pay $150,000 to bomb-plant workers with three specific illnesses. Labor has spent $346 million in administration costs so far to hand out $800 million. It had handled 22,000 of 40,000 cases."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The above are excerpts of the article.

One of the first things to raise my hackles is the "NO BID" Science and Engineerring Associates contract.

Another thing comes to mind, yes many have died young and it seems to me more will have died before any concrete help comes to them. And those whose quality of life has been zilch for years, what about them ?

The wheels in Congress who set this program up and the bean counters who advised them seem to me to have built in a "doomed" to drag its feet for ever program.

---------------------------

Quoting M. Ann Imse further. "But winning a DOE case only gives a worker ammunition to file for workers compensation insurance. For 20 percent to 50 percent of the cases, the GAO said, it will be tough to collect. That's because companies that worked at bomb plants and their insurers have gone out of business over the years. Existing firms may choose to fight the claims in court."

--------------------------------------------------

In my state they have hardened the Worker's Comp. to an unjust point I think, so what luck will a bomb-plant worker have there ?

I know and have talked to people who worked at Rocky Flats, they told me that management did not warn them of the poisonous properties of Beryllium, especially the fines from machining same. There was plenty of that there.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Midweek questions, The Wednesday Whatevers

1. - Which noise bothers you the most ?

A. - Noise of unjustified complaint, especially about something that can't be helped.

2. - Which emotions seem to take the best of you ?

A. - If I understand the question right, said things would be love, friendship, generosity and courtesy.

3. - What do you take pride in the most ?

A. - My family, they are what they are because they did it themselves and it is good. My wife Heather, my nationality. Those are the main things.

How does the politician's saying go ? A million here and A Million There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blog