The federal government’s failure to help sick and dying Rocky Flats workers is an unconscionable act of neglect that must be addressed.
That’s why we were glad when U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar recently said he was taking steps to force action on compensation requests by workers sickened from radiation exposure at the Cold War era nuclear bomb trigger facility.
Salazar said he will block the nomination of Leon Sequeira as an assistant secretary of Labor until the matter was resolved. Sen. Wayne Allard said he would do the same.
It’s a protest, the senators said, meant to get the attention of the Labor Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, which have before them a claim from Rocky Flats workers.
Many of those who built nuclear bomb components at the plant northwest of Denver were exposed to varying amounts of radiation and have contracted a range of cancers and other illnesses.
For years, ailing workers have tried different avenues of recourse, including lawsuits and appeals for federal compensation. They have largely been unsuccessful, despite evidence of the record of a multitude of transgressions, including sloppy plant storage practices and plutonium releases.
When the FBI raided the plant in 1989 during an investigation of environmental crimes, agents found oozing barrels of plutonium-laden waste.
It was also revealed during a recent trial that 2,600 pounds of plutonium – enough to make 400 nuclear weapons – was unaccounted for at the end of the plant’s 36 years of operation.
Seventeen months ago, workers sought compensation through a special exposure cohort petition, a petition that is now before the federal health and labor departments. The process was created to compensate thousands of Cold War workers sickened at the country’s nuclear facilities.
The Rocky Flats workers’ petition has repeatedly been delayed and obstructed at various levels and by several agencies. By holding up Sequeira’s nomination, Salazar and Allard hope to get commitments for a fair evaluation process and a just outcome.
We support their efforts and hope to see a favorable response from Washington that will address the many years of neglect these workers have suffered.
