Claude J. Evans, President
R. L. Caruso, Vice President
Douglas W. Allen, Business Agent
David L. Olson, Treasurer
James S. Easkall, Rec. Secretary
James Benedict, Sgt-at-Arms

September 25, 1991

The Honorable M. Synar
Chairman, Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommitte
Committee on Government Operations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

As Business Agent of Local 301 AE IUE who represents the hourly employees at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories located in Niskayuna, New York and the Kenneth A. Kesserling Site in West Milton, New York, I am writing to you on behalf of myself and my members in response to the GAO investigation that was performed in these facilities and our opinion of this report.

First, I would like to start off by saying that we understand the why's of the deception in this report, that under all circumstances we must protect the myth of excellence that surrounds the Naval Reactors Program, due to National Security, even at the expense to American Citizens and Employees who work in these facilities.

Secondly, I would like to explain why we feel this way and the lack of details in this report and to fill you in on my meetings with the GAO Staff and what was told to them by myself and others and what docuents were provided to them, and also provided to you.

To begin, my first meeting with your GAO Staff - Mr. Poetta, Mr. Donovan, and Mr. Gates was very unimpressing. I could tell from day one that they were very uninterested with what we had to say and the Local President and I left the meeting with the same impression that they were here for nothing more than to appease us. We knew, at that time, what the final results would be - a total whitewash - even though we didn't want to believe it, we expected it.

Let me say Sir, I have to agree with the GAO's finding on Naval Reactor's procedures in most cases, that they do exceed OSHA standards for the most part, however you can have the most excellent procedure ever written, but if you don't adhere to these procedures or follow them, because they hold up productivity, then they are as useless as the paper they are written on.

Now let's discuss the Asbestos Procedures - true we have had them since 1971, approximately three pages, which pertain to my Pipe Covers only as the GAO Report says when fabricating, installing and removing insulation containing asbestos. There seems to be no mention in their report for procedures for my carpenters, who have cut threw transite walls with skill saws to make door openings or window openings, or to replace broken transite wall panels, or cutting cemesta board for walls; a large amount of this work was done in closed shops or offices, in which it looked like it was snowing while performing this work - with no air sampling being done, no monitoring, no procedures, no protection, whatsoever, no training, no qualifications for this work, and no rquirements for respirators until approximately 1989, and no protection for the office workers while this work was being performed. Also, there is no mention of procedures for any of my other trades such as electricians who use electric drills to drill holes threw these same walls to run electrical conduit and wires which had the same conditions - no training, no procedures, no monitoring, no precautions, whatsoever, to protect them until 1989. Also, Grounds and Building - who had to clean up falling asbestos from the deteriorating piping, or the messes the laggers made removing it, until 1989, or my mill wrights or my Q.C. inspectors or my instrument mechanics until 1989. I could go on and on with the list, but I think you get the driff. I would also like to comment, on the fact that your investigators failed to mention that wearing half face respirators is exactly what we used up until approximately 1989-90, before they went to full face respiratory equipment; and they failed to mention, the fact, that their was no formal training provided for anyone other than Pipe Covers prior to the Union filing DOE complaints starting in 1986, which are not mentioned, until these complaints started to appear in the press in 1988. Nor did they mention the Grievances or verbal complaints.

Sir, your investigation also stated that they only found one serious incident involving asbestos in 20 years, which was a Class B investigation which that alone states KAPL had inadequate procedures and no controls, etc. However, they also fail to mention that one of my trained Pipe Covers was also involved in that exposure. Sir, I find it most interesting that a similar incident occurred in 1990 while your investigators were here. In the DIG Plant, they had the Navy remove lagging from some piping in which they were told it was non-asbestos, so they took no precautions other than to wear surgical masks, then proceeeded to rip it down, stuff the asbestos in garbage bags, then dragged the garbage bags through the hallways of Building 13, and then threw the garbage bags in the regular garbage dumpster. Someone got suspicous because it looked old, they had it checked and found out that it was asbestos - no controls, no training, no protection. So, why was this incident not mentioned in their report? The Navy was again exposed to asbestos material.

Mr. Synar, if their controls have been so great and there has been no other incidents, maybe someone can explain how the following people contacted Asbestos related Cancer and have past away or have developed asbestosus (a lung disease).

1) Tom Mann - Engineer - lower level KAPL (Knolls), Mr. Mann had one and a half (1 1/2) of his lungs removed - they were full of asbestos. Mr. Mann past away shortly after returning to work, approximately 1989.

2) Tom Phishner - Office Worker - KAPL 28 yrs. working in an office - Mr. Phishner retired to Florida, became ill, and just found out he has lung Cancer related to asbestos.

3) Jim Leary - Instrument Mechanic - KSO (Kesserling) - Mr. Leary had a half (1/2) lung removed which was full of asbestos. Mr. Leary past away in 1989 - asbestos related Cancer.

4) Wiliam Baldwin - Electrician - KSO 36 years - Mr. Baldwin left Kesserling Site on illness at age 58 yrs. and was diagnosed as having malignant tumors on his lungs. His wife was told by Mr. Baldwin's doctor that his lungs were covered with asbestos fibers. Mr. Baldwin never returned to work after surgery. He also past away in 1989 shortly before Mr. Leary - Asbestos related lung Cancer.

5) Don Grecco - Rad Service Technician - KSO - Mr. Grecco also past away approximately 1984 - Asbestos related Cancer.

6) Mario Raviolli - Pipefitter - KAPL - Mr. Raviolli is retired and has also been diagosed as having asbestosus (lung disease).

7) Phil Eats - Pipefitter - KAPL - Mr. Eats is also retired from KAPL and has been diagnosed with asbestosus (lung disease).

Note - The last two individuals were never told they had spots on their lungs, until the day they retired and then were told to see their own doctor.

But I see no mention of any of this in their report and the list will probably continue to grow, but we are safe - no problem - your investigators say so!

Also Mr. Sinar, there is no mention in their report about the asbetos surveillance list that they have and that they said they have always kept on employees who were potentially exposed to asbestos, which I obtained around 1989 from the company, a list of between 30-35 employees, in which I am one, however, I can't seem to find any of my older employees on it. You see, I was also exposed to asbestos during the year I was a heavy equipment operator and groundman then as a carpenter at KSO, with no training, no controls, no procedures, and no protection.

Thirdly, I would like to discuss some othe radiological information we provided to your investigators - such as going into radiation areas and putting film badges in lead boxes so it doesn't show a dose rate. Most of this information was in documents given to the GAO or from interviews they held.

Also, they were informed of the KAPL Landfill and the buried drums with radiation symbols. They were provided documents of CIRCLA I and II which greatly disputed each other; Why? Because CIRCLA I was done with older employees who were there when they buried the drums, CIRCLA II was done with newer employees who had no knowledge of what was buried because they weren't there. I even found the Landfill Operator who buried them; he is now 72 years old, but your investigator did not talk to him, because they themselves did not want to hear about the Landfill at KAPL, in fact, they came out and stated they were not here to investigate the Landfill, just allegations from employees on Health and Safety. Well if contaminated material buried in a Landfill isn't an issue on Health and Safety, especially when people are working there and you have the Mohawk River right behind it, then my view on Health and Safety is misdirected, however, they insisted they did not want to hear about it, but they would inform the State. I even offered, Mr. Synar, to volunteer my own time, if the Government would provide the heavy equipment to dig up the Landfill to prove or disprove, if the contaminated drums were buried there; all I wanted in return, was to get them out of there and have the rest of the Landfill checked, but nobody wanted to hear about it.

Emergency Core Cooling Systems - eveyrtime that was brought up, we were told that it was classified and it could not be discussed, I don't understand why - it was mentioned in the newspapers at different times, but your investigators stayed away from the issue.

Next, Mr. Synar, I would like to discuss the list that was given to your investigators of who to talk to that had information, in which I volunteered to go with them to talk with these people, but was told they could handle it, which they did call people on the list at home and at work, but what they forgot to include was if the people were not home, they never called back; and the people they called at work would not talk over the phone for fear of the phones being tapped. In one case, one individual was dying with terminal Cancer and I informed your investigators of this a couple of different times, however, they ignored it and the man past away without his information being revealed to them.

Another issue that was not addressed, for some reason, was the fact that KAPL issued a Site Wide GAG Order to silence the employees, which served its purpose even though eight months later they issued another Order explaining the employees rights, but they never rescinded the first order. When the Union and others pursued this in a Court of Law and lost and was publicized, this just added to the fears of the employees at KAPL - the fear of retaliation, loss of job, imprisonment, or fines up to $100,000 and which still silences the majority from speaking out, and was left up to a few, who are now labelled as critics, discontent employees, militant as well as subversive employees - which I can live with the label.

Lastly and in conclusion, Mr. Sinar, I would like to say on behalf of myself and my members, that your investigators and Naval Reactors can blind side Congress and the general population and make them believe what they read is all for the sake of National Security - but, the employees who have worked in these facilities in the past and the spouses who have lost loved ones from exposure to hazardous material from these facilities is that - We know better, Sir! So in ending my concerns and having my say to this investigation, we would like to thank your investigative branch the GAO, especially those individuals who did the investigation and all of the experts they brought in for us to talk to, which we never saw much less got to talk to, and who looked into our allegations - it was deeply appreciated and we all feel much safer and healthier since the 52 page report has been released, and we could read for ourselves that Naval Reactors still carries the Seal of Excellence all in the name of National Secuirty.

Sincerely,

Douglas W. Allen
Business Agent
Local 301 AE IUE

Joe Evans
President
Local 301 AE IUE