Letter: How long will community tolerate Hanford culture toward workers?

Seattle’s King 5 TV is airing a five-part series on Hanford’s sick and forgotten workers. One segment states that Hanford’s site medical director, Dr. Karen Phillips, stated under oath, during a court hearing, that DOE employee and workers compensation representative, Juli Yamauchi, told her to quit diagnosing workers with chronic beryllium disease! If the worker is diagnosed with sarcoidosis, the worker is not entitled to federal medical removal benefits. The difference between the diseases is simply exposure to beryllium.

How long will our community tolerate this culture where the workers’ lives are expendable? The sick workers and their families do not have the energy to fight this culture, they are consumed with taking care of their loved ones and getting the necessary medical care. The community needs to be outraged and our local media needs to stand up to Hanford and expose them for their total disregard to the ill workers’ health.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 4:46 AM with the headline "Letter: How long will community tolerate Hanford culture toward workers?."