WA: Chemical vapor injuries to dozens of workers prompt ?stop work? at Hanford

[Emily]

Some were coughing up blood.

http://www.king5.com/news/hanford/Chemical-vapors-prompt-stop-work-at-Hanford-253463261.html

Chemical vapor incidents prompt ?stop work? at Hanford

by SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News

Posted on April 1, 2014 at 3:56 PM

Updated yesterday at 5:34 PM

Concerns about repeated exposures to chemical vapors at Hanford prompted a "stop work" order late Monday by two employees of one of the main contractors at the site.

Two-dozen workers have reported medical problems over the past two weeks after breathing chemical vapors. The vapors were detected primarily in the Hanford area that houses large tanks holding radioactive waste...

 

[Emily]

Re: WA: Chemical vapor injuries to dozens of workers prompt ?stop work? at Hanford

http://www.nwcn.com/news/environment/Derailed-study-sounded-alarm-about-Hanford-vapors-259155341.html

Buried study sounded alarm about Hanford vapors
by SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News
NWCN.com
Posted on May 13, 2014 at 11:09 PM
Updated yesterday at 11:21 AM

Richland, Wash. - A 1997 study by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) drew groundbreaking conclusions about the potential hazards of chemical vapor releases to workers at the Hanford Site. But KING 5 has found that the results of that study were never made public, shared with Hanford workers or members of the federally chartered Hanford Advisory Board.
For the first time, scientists working at the renowned lab in Richland, managed by the Department of Energy?sOffice of Science, concluded that emissions from underground nuclear waste tanks had the potential to cause cancer and other serious diseases if workers near the vapors weren?t wearing full respiratory protective gear...