Nuke Plant Blamed for Cancer Cases
Copyright 1998 Associated Press
August 10, 1998
A trial to determine whether a nuclear fuel processing plant is responsible
for eight cases of
cancer could set the tone for more than 200 related cases.
Eight people who have
cancer or represent others who died of the disease have sued Atlantic Richfield Co.,
Babcock
& Wilcox
Co. and B&W Nuclear Environmental Services Inc., the successive operators of the plant in
Apollo, about 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The trial, scheduled to begin today, is expected to take three weeks.
The lawsuit, filed in 1994, will serve as a test for more than 90 personal
injury cases, about 120 property damage cases and a class-action lawsuit
seeking medical monitoring for
residents. The other cases are on hold.
The plant processed uranium as fuel for nuclear reactors and submarines from
1957 to 1978. In the early 1990s, it was torn down, and more than 800,000 cubic
feet of soil and debris was shipped to a radioactive waste disposal site.
Three state
health studies and one federal study showed no unusual rates of cancer or birth
defects around Apollo. Near a subsidiary plant three miles away in Parks
Township, however, studies found a high rate of cancer among female residents.
Lawsuits by
residents near the Parks Township plant also are pending.
The current lawsuit says a uranium processing plant never should have been
built in a residential neighborhood.
Alfred Wilcox, an attorney for the companies, said the areas where radioactive
material might have become airborne were enclosed, and the air was filtered.
Even if radioactive material was released, it probably had nothing to do with
the cancers, Wilcox said.
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