Environmental Radiation Exposure

By the 1970s, a substantial body of medical literature began accumulating regarding the negative health consequences of nuclear weapons production on workers and the surrounding communities. The Fernald facility, built in the rural communities of Ross and Crosby townships, approximately twenty miles northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, became a problem for not only workers in the plant but for the entire region.

For every one pound of uranium processed, over two pounds of toxic waste was produced. According to records, a 226-acre area of the Great Miami Aquifer was contaminated—giant waste pits were created, with over 30 million pounds of uranium product stored, and millions of cubic yards of local soil contaminated.

Community members filed a class action suit and the DOE agreed to pay $78 million dollars for property devaluation and for the medical monitoring of community members. Community members complained of cancer risks, contaminated water, elevated breast cancer incidences and higher rates of autoimmune disorders.

Even if the government and its contractors denied the findings in damaging studies, the cancer victims of the Fernald facilities and their families made themselves known.

Then in 1984, the Department of Energy (DOE), and National Lead of Ohio (NLO), the plant operator, both acknowledged that 300 pounds of enriched uranium oxide had been released into the air from a malfunctioning safety device. The Department of Energy also admitted that multiple water wells located south of the plant had been contaminated with uranium.

Compensation for Ohio Fernald Workers

There is no arguing that workers in the Cincinnati, Ohio Fernald plant and many other nuclear sites across the country have been exposed to radioactive materials over long periods of time, sometimes without their knowledge.

As a result, a 2000 Presidential Executive Order—Providing Compensation for America’s Nuclear Weapons Workers—established the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation program (EEOICPA).

The goal of the EEOICPA was to properly compensate plant workers and their survivors for their patriotic duty. The program is a positive step in protecting workers, however, some cancer patients and survivors may need further legal representation to receive proper compensation.

In 1990, Fernald workers filed a lawsuit in 1994 and worked out a settlement. The national Fernald workers compensation program is in place so that workers can receive a lump sum payment of $150,000 and medical care if they have one of 22 designated cancers. The U.S. Government has reportedly already paid out more than $10 billion to victims and survivors of occupational radiation exposure.

Fernald Cancer Lawsuits

Veterans who have participated in a radiation-risk activity during service may be at heightened risk of certain cancers in the years and decades following exposure.

Afflicted Veterans don’t have to prove a connection between certain related diseases and their service to be eligible for compensation. Their survivors and families may also be eligible for benefits if the Veteran dies as the result of ionizing radiation exposure. Specific related cancers include:

• Glioblastomas (brain tumors)
• Leukemia
• Lymphomas
• Multiple myeloma (MM)
  

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Other cancers associated with radiation exposure include cancers of the bile ducts, bone, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, gall bladder, liver, lung, pancreas, pharynx, ovary, salivary gland, intestine, stomach, thyroid, and urinary tract. The VA also recognizes other diseases are possibly caused by exposure to ionizing radiation during service:

• Non-malignant thyroid nodular disease
• Parathyroid adenoma
• Central nervous system disorders