European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine we will overuse  fri6np51nffrnalpohio., enemies uproar Over radiation Tell the truth by Kenneth b. Noble new York times t he farming Labouring shop keeping a mates around Fernald Ohio scorn just As conservative a nth Jusi As patriotic As the Small. Lown Usa stereotype would have it. But Iho uranium processing Plant Down the Road and what the Federal government has told them about its solely has Ham sounding like something else  government was lying to us and they lied and  said Ooris Clawson. 69. A homemaker Whoso family has lived for five generations on a 242-Acrc farm bordering Imhuf Ernald Plant which enriches he fuel for America s nuclear weapons. It s just a terrible thing Thoy a  amid mauling pressure on the White House rom environmental groups an Anli nuclear physicians group on oct. 26 urged president Reagan to Lake drastic Steps to improve safely Al . Nuclear weapons making facilities. Ted he in ult an irate crowed shouted As the manager of the Energy " department s Rocity rats Plant near Denver argued that the Plant s plutonium reprocessing Lac Lily was closed because of a single contamination incident. Investigators irom Congress and Iho environmental Protection Agency had found Yery serious and repeated safety violations Mitchell Mallair claimed he got bladder cancer because to handled. Plutonium during the be years to worked at Rocky Flats. Mallair who retired Aboul two years before the cancer was diagnosed filed Anil against  department. Contractors who operate he nuclear. Weapons facility As part of a 1986oul-of court settlement Maulfair agreed nol to discuss any payments he might receive or make any Lurl Hor charges that the cancer which was removed surgically and has Noi recurred was caused by exposure to the plutonium processed Al Rocky Flats. -. Iii disclose anything Teboul the f agreement they can come Bach and sue me said the 71-year-old Maulfair who now lives in fort Laramie. Typ. They have people like to pretty Well shut up Maulfair s Case is symptomatic of the problems faced by the 90.000 workers Al the Energy department s nuclear weapons production Complex in documenting any relation Between exposure to radiation and cancer or other diseases.  four of the 17 major facilities operated by the Depar Lynnl in 13 slates have been wholly or partially closed Down for safely reasons bringing nuclear weapons production to a virtual halt. And Energy Secretary John s. Herrington has informed Congress that it could cos As much As $ t to Buff Ion to clean up radioactive contamination at lha Sites and make hem Safe. However present and past workers in the nuclear weapons Complex say they still face a Wall of secrecy around the Al feels of radiation on their Hearth. Safety concerns have prompted unions and individuals to file dozens of. Lawsuits across he country. Additionally some unions and other critics arc demanding that the Energy department provide Independent researchers or another Federal Agency with data it has collected on 600,000 people who worked in Iho nuclear weapons production Complex starting with the lop secret Manhattan project in 1942. Problems Wilh radioactive emissions at the female plan in Ohio have been Public knowledge for several years but officials always maintained that they were making efforts to clean up the sources of contamination. Bui in court documents wed in september Energy department officials acknowledged inf he government had known for decades that Normal operation of the Fernald plan would result in emissions of uranium and other substances but that ii would not spend the Money to improve pollution controls the Plant which is 18 Miles Northwest o Cincinnati has been closed since oct. B by a strike o workers demanding higher wages and belter working conditions. The governor of Ohio. Richard f. Celeste has asked president Reagan to keep the Plant closed until the government could ensure thai it was not harming the environment whether emissions from the be mad. Plant did serious harm to the. Environment or to he health of workers and nearby residents is unknown. No one has proved any damage so far and he dispute is the subject of a huge lawsuit and of planned scientific research. But in the View of the profoundly bitter people who live nearby the government quietly acquiesced in Iho agonizing sicknesses and deals of their friends and families. Those Are the worst people you can imagine said Doris Clawson s husband Marvin nodding his head toward the fenced grounds of the Fernald Plant Ess than 300 feet from their farmhouse door. The experience has shaken Charles Zinser s Laith in his country. Ill Only feel Cornolo Lable being an american Eillien if there s a system of accountability put upon these people said Zinser a Steelworker. Ii not i d As Coon go to  Zinser believes he has reason to be Biller. In april 1986 he was told Hal his son Samuel then 8. Had cancer acute Lymphoblast in leukaemia. Then a month later a Bone tumor was found in his 3 year old Louis. The boy s lower left leg had to to amputated. The doctors said such a coincidence is extremely rare and then Zinser thought Aboul the vegetable Garden he rented a mile and a Hall from the uranium Plant during he planting  he said. Me and Sam and Louie and Linda wore there constantly t could say. Confidently just about every  so he had tests done on Garden samples and on tissue from his son s leg. Bolh contained traces of uranium. Tho Zinser and Gawson families along Wilh 14,000 other Southern Ohio residents have brought suit against Milo inc., formerly National Lead of Ohio which ran the Plant until 1986 it is now run by Westing House electric corp. The families assert Hal the company allowed radioactive material to Feak from the Plant site and Iney Aro seeking $300 million in damages for declining properly values and for emotional trauma caused by exposure o radioactive materials. The Suil docs not allege health problems because cancer is so Dill Cuil to prove Al this stage of the game said Stanley m. Chesley a Cincinnati lawyer who represents most of the Plain lifts. The Energy department has nearly completed a study of just How much radioactive material hundreds of tons of uranium dus Over three decades was dispersed irom the Fernald Plant. The centers for disease control will us those data to estimate the radiation doses receiver by residents and will than decide whether a health Survey of the area is warranted. Some scientists however Aro already sceptical hat uranium emissions Are to blame for illnesses in the area Roy. Eckart director of the nuclear engineering program Al the University of Cincinnati said an Independent University study had found that radial Ron in the soil near the Plant was very Low. In my opinion it should peso now problem in the area to said. -.-. But Zinser still convinced Hal the culprit was something in Iho soil had More sophisticated tests done at the University of Waterloo across Lake Erie in Ontario. While the Canadian scientists found the same results in the soil Iney went a step further Zinser said. The Waterloo Laboratory Lound 100 parts per billion of uranium in the Bones and tissues of his son s amputated leg 10 limes the Normal level. Tha Fernald plan turns uranium hex fluoride a liquid or Gas Inlo uranium Metal that is further processed for use in nuclear weapons or As Uel Lor government reactors. Air irom each building is pumped through Dusl bags designed of filler Bui uranium particles before in is allowed to pass up and Oul of the stacks. ".-. -. According to the court documents As Early As 1959 the government was await that the dust collection bags ruptured about once a month releasing reel Ivriy Large amounts of uranium particles through the stacks into he air. Recalling assurances from company and government officials Ihal the Plant was Safe Clawson s lace became hushed from anger. We fount them lying so much he said we did t know if they knew How to Leli the  wednesday november 9,1988 the stars and stripes paga13