Victims of nuclear fallout tell their stories

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
The Gallup Independent
Thursday, May 20, 2004

WINDOW ROCK
They talk of watching the clouds, playing in the "snow" in the summer, sweeping the ash from their cars and the ash burning their skin as it fell on them. They talk of being farmers who became bankrupt because nobody would buy their produce or milk, of being so poor they didn't have a choice to throw away goods that had been grown on ground covered with nuclear ash.

"They" are downwinders Rebecca Barlow and a fellow oncology nurse have worked with for 10 years as inpatient cancer nurses. The two are employed at Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah.

Taking shots

The United States conducted more than 900 nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site, 100 above ground and 804 detonated underground. The "Sedan Shot" was detonated at 635 feet underground. "Shot Baneberry" was detonated at 900 feet. The two tests vented radioactive debris to heights of 16,000 feet and 10,000 feet respectively, with fallout reaching as far as Kentucky and Tennessee.

"We have been involved with people and their families that have been devastated by cancer," Barlow told the National Research Council committee Tuesday when the panel of experts came to the Navajo Nation to assess scientific information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP).

In her testimony to the committee, Barlow said that among the downwinders they have met, most of their stories are the same. In addition to tales of ash and snow, she said, they told of wearing radiation monitors on their shirts as children that always read "hot."

"They also tell of a government that told them that these tests were 'safe' and wouldn't hurt them, when there is now evidence that shows that the government knew of the potential devastating effects and 'sacrificed' those people anyway," she said.

In the zone

Danielle Stephens of Kingman, Ariz., in Mohave County is one of those in the sacrifice zone. "I'm a fourth-generation cattle rancher in Mohave County. We were all dusted many times with radiation," she told the committee. Out of 27 family members, only three are still alive.

"My grandfather passed away in 1967 from stomach cancer. My dad passed away in 1989 from skin cancer. My uncle, my mom's brother, he had throat cancer. My brother at this time has lymphatic cancer. My husband has prostate cancer. Right at this time I'm taking my mom to the doctor for breast cancer. She's not really doing that well," Stephens said.

"My husband has several members of his family who have died. The last time I spoke to this panel it was 17 members. I want to let you know that in January we lost a 46-year-old girl who was my first cousin (skin cancer). And Clint Cofer, we lost him six weeks later in March from lung cancer. My mom is in jeopardy and my brother is not doing very well. My daughter, I lost her in 2001." Overcome with emotion, she said, "With that, I think I'll just stop."

A portion of Mohave County located north of the Grand Canyon originally was included in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) enacted in 1990 for purposes of compensation. However, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) when Congress amended RECA in 2000 and added five additional Arizona counties, "the drafters of the legislation inadvertently eliminated that portion of Mohave County that was previously compensable under the original law. As a result, claimants who reside in the previously covered portion of Mohave County are no longer eligible for compensation," a DOJ attorney wrote in an April 2001 letter to the Kingman city manager.

Waiting on remedies"This is an oversight that we believe was not intended by Congress," the attorney said, noting that the issue had been brought to the attention of Congress with the hope that legislation "will be soon introduced to remedy this, as well as other 'technical' deficiencies in the new law."

Mohave County residents are still waiting.

Barlow told the National Research Council that the RESEP clinic in St. George sees mostly downwinders about 92 percent. The clinic opened in March 2004 and already had found 11 cancer-related abnormalities among those patients screened. "We have an extensive cancer program as a result of the large number of residents exposed to atmospheric testing. As you know, there is an issue on reopening testing at Nevada Test Site for underground bunker bombs. We have a lot of people that come from that area," she said.

Barlow, along with Dr. Bruce Struminger of Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, took issue with findings in the National Research Council's interim report on radiation exposure and screening. Barlow said she and a fellow oncology nurse read the interim report with dismay. They took exception to the committee's statement that a patient's risk for cancer decreases over time.

Two-hit method

The biology of cancer is explained by the "two hit method," Barlow said, meaning it takes two hits on the DNA of a cell to cause a malignant change to occur and begin to replicate. Some people are born with the first abnormality while others acquire it after birth. "The exposure to radiation that these people endured was a definite 'hit,'" she said. "Genetics also suggest that if a chromosome is damaged, the weakness is often passed on to the daughter cells and their offspring. This 'first hit' will follow them for their lifetime."

Cancer patients who receive low-dose radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy to treat their cancers must be followed for their lifetime to manage the late effects from these treatments. It has been found that the younger these treatments occur, the greater the risks of late effects, which include different health problems and secondary malignancies, according to Barlow.

"RESEP patients also have the added burden that, unlike Chernobyl or Hiroshima, which was a one-time exposure, they have had multiple exposures from the multiple detonations and uranium contacts," she said.

The nurses and Dr. Struminger also took issue with the committee's statement that "currently, there is no evidence to support the notion that screening for radiogenic diseases in this population will result in measurable health benefit for eligible participants. In fact, a screening program could be harmful because of false-positive test results."

Citing conflictBarlow told the panel, "We feel that this statement is in direct conflict with the recommendations from the American Cancer Society, which states that cancers can be caught early by mammography, colonoscopy, PAP smears, PSA's, etc., and that their screening recommendations should be followed. This statement reminds one of not making out a will because it could cause your death."

Dr. Struminger told the committee, "If the goal of the program was to improve the general health of the population, the medical screening and medical testing we do probably would not be the ideal combination of tests." But, he said, the goal of RECA is not to improve the general health status of the population, but to screen for disability to determine eligibility for compensation. RECA requires that certain medical testing be performed in order for an applicant to be awarded a "compassionate payment," he said.

The Shiprock program is beginning to focus more attention on helping Navajo and Hopi downwinders of the Nevada Test Site complete their applications for RECA compensation. Struminger said a recent chart review at Tuba City hospital showed that 258 living patients who were alive during the period of atmospheric testing at Nevada Test Site have confirmed diagnoses of malignancies that are compensable under RECA, representing $25 million to those downwinders living in the Western Agency.

Another chart review showed 166 deceased patients with RECA-compensable malignancies, representing an additional $8 million to their survivors.

"We anticipate an additional 1,000 living patients with compensable malignancies and 500 patients who are deceased, but whose families could apply for compensation on their behalf. ... Addressing the issue of Navajo and Hopi downwinders alone could mean $75 million to $100 million in compensation to these families," Dr. Struminger said.

Kathy Helms


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