DOE construction workers can seek cancer compensation

DOE construction workers can seek cancer compensation

By LORI TUCKER
6 News Anchor/Reporter

OAK RIDGE (WATE) -- Former construction workers for Department of Energy sites are encouraged to contact the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program to find out if years of exposure to radiation and other carcinogens on the job made them sick.

The screening program has been in place in Oak Ridge for 11 years.

However, since many construction workers during the Cold War era were considered temporaries, records of their employment weren't always kept. That made it difficult for staff with the screening program to find them.

The program provides free physical exams through a partnership with UT Medical Center. If cancer or other health problems are detected, screening staffers help the patient file a claim with the Department of Labor.

One staff member, Johnny Ballinger, knows how to counsel workers who are ill.

Ballinger was an asbestos worker for nearly 30 years. "They told us that asbestos was not harmful, would not hurt you."

Ballinger was the first reported case of lung disease in the form of asbestosis at DOE in 1968. He received no compensation.

He did get a medical card which pays for treatment of respiratory problems. But Ballinger has also had a brain tumor and other health issues he blames on the job.

"They weren't given protective treatment back in the earlier years and monitoring wasn't a norm during that time period. Things have improved and conditions have improved but there's a lot of sick workers," says Kim Cranford, who runs the screening program.

So far, more than 2,300 former workers in Oak Ridge alone have been tested for cancer and other health problems.

Cranford says more than half of the workers had abnormal results on their breathing tests.

She says 23 percent of the time, lung X-rays show problems and seven percent show suspicious nodules or lesions.

Cranford also says 449 were diagnosed with different forms of cancer, not including skin cancer.

If you worked at a DOE nuclear site during the Cold War, either in construction or remediation and cleanup, call the Building Trades National Screening Program at 888-464-0009.