Oregon workers file suit
claiming the Army
covered up their exposure to chemical agent(s)
(Excerpted from the August 2000 issue of CWWG's newsletter "Common Sense")
In September 1999, 34 construction workers
were overcome by a toxic vapor while working in the Munitions
Demilitarization Building (MDB) of the Umatilla, Oregon chemical
weapons incinerator. It was reported that workers were falling,
they were crying and they were retching. Almost a year after the
incident Army officials insist that although no one knows what
the vapor was, they're sure it wasn't nerve or mustard agents.
In a lawsuit filed July 31, the Army's claim is disputed by 18
of the poisoned workers who are still suffering ill-effects from
their exposure.
In their suit, the workers accuse the Army and its contractor
Raytheon Demilitarization Corporation, Inc. of concealing leaks
of Mustard and the nerve gas Sarin which made the workers sick.
The workers allege that:
James McCandlish, attorney for the workers
said that the suit would be used to pry open Army and Raytheon
secrets, including what killed the rabbit that was found dead
in an area where Mustard was detected.
The suit asks for a stop-construction injunction and seeks compensation
from Raytheon for permanent damage to the workers. OSHA (Occupational
Safety and Health Administration) fined Raytheon $5000 for not
providing prompt medical services to the sickened men. At a press
conference, David Bosley, a former mill wright, said that if wasn't
for the grace of God, he's sure the workers would have died.
Bosley has spent time in four hospitals and has not returned to
work.
CWWG has joined with the injured workers and their attorneys in
calling for suspension of the construction and operation of all
Army incinerators pending an independent investigation of the
Oregon incident. Karyn Jones, a local resident and founder of
the anti-incineration group GASP, said, "If the Army and
contractors are so inept as to let these incidents occur during
construction, I hate to think what will happen if they are allowed
to burn these lethal agents in incinerators that disperse effluents
through open stacks into our community."
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