UNION BOSSES TO BNL: WE WERE NOT NOTIFIED

UNIONS LEADERS CHARGE BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY FAILED TO NOTIFY EMPLOYEES OF BENEFITS AVAILABLE

CONGRESSMAN BISHOP WRITES TO DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) REGARDING GRUMMAN EMPLOYEE EXPOSURE TO TOXIC BERYLLIUM

Union leaders at Brookhaven National Laboratory claim they were not notified of benefits BNL knew were available to their members since 2000; including free medical screenings, free lifetime medical care and potential monetary compensation for them and their family members if they have become ill or are deceased from diseases caused by exposure to toxins while working at the lab.

Union representatives  say Brookhaven National Laboratory  officials even failed to cooperate once they became aware of the programs available.

“The cooperation from BNL is atrocious.” according to Mike O’Grady, President of IBEW Local 25- a former BNL worker.

After attending a meeting of the DOL (Department of Labor), NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) and the EEOICP (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program) on March 3, in Ronkonkoma, which was set up to help workers file claims and get information about the new Special Exposure Cohort Class (SEC) for those exposed to radiation, beryllium and other toxins at BNL, O’Grady spoke to Freelance Investigations about Brookhaven National Laboratory and his opinion of the lab’s failure to inform or to help his members.

“I have only been in office for a year and a half and I first heard about the program two and a half to three years ago from a friend of mine who went for a screening was diagnosed with Leukemia. He passed away.  He was a good friend and he pushed me until the day he died to get screened and I finally did.”

GRUMMAN: A NON-UNION SHOP ALSO NOT NOTIFIED

In a letter from Congressman Tim Bishop (1^st District New York) to Brian Kennedy, Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs; Department of Labor (DOL) dated March 24, 2010 Congressman Bishop requests an investigation to be initiated by the DOL to answer charges that the Office of the Ombudsmen,  had falsely claimed in a 2008 Report to Congress that they had notified all employees of their rights to apply for benefits.  Employees involved were potentially exposed to toxic levels of beryllium and radiation while working at Grumman Aerospace and/or Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) from 1947 to the present.

Dr. Carmine Vasile, a Patchogue resident, is the reason Congressman Bishop wrote the letter.  “Clinton ordered us to be notified…the Bush administration made sure we weren’t.”  said Dr. Vasile, who is currently going through the application process.   “Not one of several doctors I have seen so far has ever heard of Beryllium Disease."  Yet according to a letter from the DOL claims examiner, Kimberley Bender, claimants are required to provide medical evidence of a specific disease. 

Dr. Vasile wanted to know  “How do they provide evidence of a disease they never heard of?”  

Freelance Investigations spoke to Mike Volpe, press person for the Department of Labor, regarding Grumman and the issue of notification.  Volpe said in an E-Mail that Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage is not an EEOICPA covered facility.

Volpe is incorrect according to Kimberley Bender.  Grumman is an EEOICPA site for anyone who worked there;  Bender noted in a March 15, letter to Dr. Vasile:

While Northrop Grumman Corporation is not listed as a covered facility under the EEOICPA, there is evidence that a subcontractor contract existed between Northrop Grumman Corporation and Brookhaven Laboratory.

This makes Northrop Grumman employees as well as BNL workers members of the Special Exposure Cohort Class (SEC) designated on January 9, 2010 for those who worked at DOE facilities from 1947-1979.  For these employees it is assumed they have been exposed to beryllium and radiation and other toxins, but because documents are scarce, secret or have been destroyed, they are part of the SEC class. This does not mean that any one who worked at these as well as other DOE contractors and subcontractors from 1980 to the present are not covered.  These employees are covered but they would be members of the EEOICPA in general, not the SEC, and can file a claim through the DOL or directly through the EEOICPA.

Dr. Vasile worked in Department of Energy facilities for the defense industry most of his career.  In 1992 Dr. Vasile was Grumman Inventor of the Year.  He worked on secret projects and not so secret projects at military and commercial properties all over the United States.  Dr. Vasile was doing the job his country asked him to perform and he did it well.  In the process, he and thousands of other men and women were exposed to various contaminants like Beryllium.  At the time they were unaware of their deadly properties.   Beryllium was used for many aircraft parts because of its strength, lightness and low sparking quality.  (The F-22 had over 340 parts made from Beryllium) According to Dr. Vasile the men and women machining Beryllium were never told that Beryllium in dust, vapor or particle form is the most toxic metal known to man.  Dr. Vasile claims he and other workers were never provided protective breathing apparatus and proper clothing to prevent toxic exposure. 

If the dust, vapor or particle form of Beryllium enters the lungs it can cause Chronic Beryllium Disease, a fatal lung disease that may take decades to present symptoms and for which there is no cure; or Beryllium Sensitivity Disease, enlargement of the heart, cancers, rashes and other medical maladies.

In 2000, then President William J. Clinton signed an Executive Order to provide notification and compensation for the men and women who were unknowingly exposed to cancer and other disease causing toxins in the course of their work for the Department of Energy (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission), their contractors or subcontractors.

At Grumman Aerospace, now Northrop Grumman, thousands of former employees (or their relatives if the employees are already deceased) may apply for compensation through the Energy Employees Illness Occupational Compensation Program. (EEOICP). 

Grumman was not a union shop so they could not depend upon union notification.  According to John Vosilla, Manager for Communication for The Eastern Region of Northrop Grumman,

they were never notified by the Department of Labor in any way.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this.” Vosilla said.  In a statement released this morning Vosilla added:

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act was enacted to provide compensation and medical benefits to employees who worked at certain Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, including contractors and subcontractors at those locations, and certain of its vendors. It was to help people who worked on nuclear weapons and testing programs. As best as can be determined, we never worked on such programs. Nor did the DOE or the Department of Labor, again as best as we can determine, ever contact us about the Act.

Mr. Vosilla, does not appear to be aware that the program is not limited to those who worked on nuclear testing programs.  It also includes those who worked with Beryllium, a major component of many of the airplanes' brakes, landing gear, radar systems and hundreds more parts made of beryllium used specifically in the aerospace industry that was and is Grumman.  Military aircraft always use brakes and landing gear using pure Beryllium, other parts are also made from Beryllium alloys such as Beryllium Copper.

Jeff Bartels, a Lloyd Neck resident who worked at Grumman in tooling and production control from 1981 -1990 says he was never notified by Grumman or the Department of Labor that Beryllium was so toxic or that these EEOICPA benefits were available.  Mr. Bartels went to almost every plant and building in the course of his job duties.  “We would “kit a job” which meant walking a piece of metal through every phase of its’ production.”

"My department handled the tooling and manufacturing for the whole area at Grumman.  The Navy would inspect the finished products on the property and some planes, like the E2C were delivered directly from Bethpage" Mr. Bartels said.

“Plant 3 was one of the biggest machining facilities on the property.”  Mr. Bartels recalled.  “There was no air conditioning at the time and so in the summer we’d open the bay doors and giant fans were placed all over the place.  The mist from the cutting oil was blowing everywhere.  Even worse was the winter, when the cloud of dust and smoke was so thick over the milling machines you could not see from one end of the building to the other.  The only thing petitioned off was the paint shop and the chem milling shop.”

Mr. Bartels said he had developed a skin rash on his face and forehead while working at Plant 11, (off the main property) when he first started work for Grumman.  Mr. Bartels said he was treated by Grumman doctors.  “We were part of the “Grumman Family” and we were expected to go to the  “Grumman family doctors” and we trusted them.”

Mr. Bartels plans on getting screened for his Beryllium exposure under the little known National Supplemental Screening Program (NSSP)  now that he found out about the program.  He claims he still experiences rashes.

“The Department of Labor claims that we were notified, is complete B.S.  What scares me now is that I think back on all the exposure I had.  I am losing sleep over it.  I don’t know where to begin.”

Excerpt from the letter from Congressman Bishop to Kennedy:

Dear Mr. Kennedy,

 “Mr. Vasile contacted our office regarding an issue pertaining to the Executive Order 13179 of December 7, 2000.  My understanding is this order was to have employers notify current and past employees, who were exposed to beryllium and a number of other hazardous materials, of their right to apply for benefits through the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.  Mr. Vasile claims that his former employer Grumman Aircraft, currently known as Northrop- Grumman, never notified him of this program.  He also claims that the Office of the Ombudsman Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program falsely claims that all employees were notified of their rights in their 2008 Annual Report.

Congressman Bishop then requested the Department of Labor to investigate this matter on Dr. Vasile’s behalf and provide answers regarding the inquiry to both Vasile and his office.

Both Dr. Vasile and Mr. Bartels’ are  concerned not only with past exposure, but the present contamination of the groundwater.  Mr. Bartels said, “This stuff was just flushed out with hoses onto the pavement and pushed out to filter into the ground.”

 The MCL (Maximum Contamination Level) for Beryllium is 4 ppb (parts per billion) compared to Lead which is 15 ppb. “ This shows easily how much more toxic Beryllium is than lead and yet they burn it in our incinerators, and power plants and they allow it in our drinking water” according to Dr. Vasile whose Ph.D is in Electrophysics.

STEAMFITTERS AT BNL WERE NEVER NOTIFIED

Raymond Dean Jr., the Business Agent for the Steamfitters Local 638 of the United Association AFL-CIO, also attended the March 3rd meeting.  “If my union member didn’t have a claim going, I would never have known to come to this meeting.” Dean said after being one of only about ten people at the evening session.

Dean said he found out about the program initially from the Building Trades Union about two years ago.  They sent some pamphlets and posters to the Vice President’s Office because he handles all the insurance claims.  He was shocked that no one from the Brookhaven National Laboratory in any official capacity had come to the NIOSH/DOL/EEOICPA meeting to answer any of the many questions his members and others who worked at the lab raised at the meeting.

One woman who attended the meeting whose husband has a stage four cancer said she was upset that BNL did not notify her husband back in 2000 when the EEOICPA was first established and BNL found out about it.  “If he had been tested earlier, maybe they would have caught it before it had progressed to stage four.  What about the money that we have laid out for testing and health care for all these years that could have been covered by the EEOICP?” The woman asked the question with frustration and tempered fury in her voice.  The representative from the Department of Labor handling the presentation said although she sympathized with her plight, she could not answer for BNL.

Dean told Freelance Investigations that NIOSH asked him to attend a workshop April 20-21^st in Cincinnati, Ohio, something he and Mike O'Grady both plan on going to.  In the meantime Dean plans on putting the EEOICPA and SEC information in the union’s quarterly letter that reaches over 8,000 union members including retirees and apprentices.

 

 Mike O’Grady said he found out about the new SEC class designation in October at their annual meeting.

The March DOL meeting had only about 45 people in the afternoon and less than ten in the evening.  “This meeting was the most poorly attended in the country. Usually there are 500 or 600 people attending in these large halls.”  O’Grady said adding he tries to get the information about the compensation programs to his members by including it in their monthly newsletter each month for over a year.  “We keep the brochures and EEOICPA flyers on the table at every union meeting and we urge members to go for the screening and our union is the leading local for participation in the program.”  

O’Grady says he knows from personal experience how BNL handles the workers. “I’ve gone through the program, NIOSH is very helpful- BNL is not.  They go into a stall mode and don’t return our phone calls offering to help coordinate help for the members.  Two to three months go by and even though BNL says it’s a good idea that we may have proposed, they don’t implement it.  In fact, they make it harder, not easier.  They are throwing hurdles in the way of exposed workers, not removing the hurdles as they should be doing.”

According to O’Grady, three or four months ago, prior to the SEC designation in January, there were 350 members of various building trades unions screened and of those, 120 were diagnosed with an illness attributable to BNL.  Less than half of those who start the application process for medical and financial compensation get through the process.  “The process is involved and grueling and BNL makes it as hard as possible.” said O’Grady.

“Beryllium sensitivity is four times the national average at BNL.” according to O’Grady who added that in the 60’s they did not give out masks or educate the members about the dangers of exposure to beryllium, radiation and other contaminants at the lab.

Information about the program can be found in the union paper, “The Conduit” and there is an ombudsmen from NIOSH available for Part E of the Program, but O’Grady insists the process is still very frustrating.  “First you have to get a free screening, done by the Building Trades (Medical Services of America) and that is only the start of the application process.  Then you have to fill out forms with a person’s work history and that combined with the medical screening is the start of the process. There is such a high level of frustration that people often just give up.”

Dean agreed that BNL notification was very bad and after speaking with the NIOSH representatives at the meeting he also plans to take advantage of the offer of the Department of Labor to accept kits with information he can distribute to his members.  Dean said there are already at least fifteen guys that want to know how to make claims for themselves and their relatives.

Peter Genzer, spokesperson for BNL responded when asked about the ways that BNL has notified past and current employees about the compensation program.

According to Mr. Genzer between 2000 and 2008 there were two notices and one article in The Bulletin, the lab’s internal weekly newspaper.  On October 8, 2009, BNL mailed a letter to 5,000 employees and retirees (including union employees), explaining the EEOICPA. On March 23, 2010 there was an onsite town hall style meeting regarding the new SEC Class designation.

Mr. Genzer noted BNL does postings on it’s internal website,  sent E-mails to employees about the March 3^rd meeting in Ronkonkoma and this week a second letter is being sent “to 5,000 employees and retirees to explain the Special Exposure Cohort Class and how to apply for compensation.”  The letter will include brochures and a fact sheet from the DOL about the EEOICPA Program, according to Mr. Genzer.

"I never got a letter",  said Mike O'Grady.  "It is my understanding that Brookhaven never reached out to the local unions and contractors and subcontractors who have worked on their site."

The Department of Labor spokesperson, Mike Volpe said they use social networking and Twitter as well as press releases on the DOL website to notify people and town hall meetings when new SEC's are created.  When asked how many elderly DOE employees are going to the DOL’s Facebook or Twitter sites, Volpe could not say.

Mr. Volpe could also not say how much money the DOL has spent on media, advertising or notification since the program’s inception.