CONTACT: Kevin Roark, 505-665-9202, knroark@lanl.gov
Los Alamos notifies employees, visitors of possible beryllium exposure
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, January 28, 2009— Los Alamos National Laboratory is notifying approximately 1,890 current and former employees and authorized visitors of potential exposure to beryllium based on recently discovered beryllium contamination at one of the Lab’s technical areas.For approximately 240 employees who worked at the facility, documented experience shows that approximately two percent (2%) of these workers exposed to beryllium could become sensitized, and an even smaller percentage could develop chronic beryllium disease. For the remaining approximately 1,650 visitors, the risks of exposure are extremely low because of the activities performed and the relatively short period of time spent at the location. Authorized visitors include approximately 1,000 former and current Lab employees and 650 non-Lab personnel who generally took classified tours at the Laboratory.
Current and former Laboratory employees and contractors who either worked at or visited the facility have been—or are in the process of being—notified of the beryllium levels. For affected personnel, the Laboratory’s Safety Help Desk, (505) 665-7233, will have an operator standing by for questions or concerns. The help desk will be open Monday through Friday, during regular business hours. A personal consultation with an industrial hygienist will be arranged for those concerned about exposure.
All current and former employees and visitors to the facility will be offered a beryllium sensitivity test.
These potential exposures were discovered in November and December of 2008 after industrial hygiene sampling at Technical Area 41 identified the presence of beryllium on some surfaces.
The location is used to store legacy and surplus materials. Access was immediately restricted and posted as a beryllium contamination area. Decontamination of the facility has begun and should be completed by February.
Beryllium is a silver-gray, nonradioactive metal that is extremely light, melts at a relatively high temperature, and is very stable. As a metal with many applications in electronics, aerospace and weapons work, beryllium also is used in consumer items like golf clubs and recreational bicycle frames.
Beryllium is a hazardous material in a particulate or finely powdered form. In certain susceptible individuals, inhalation of beryllium particles can result in a medical condition known as chronic beryllium disease (CBD), which can impair lung function.
For more information on beryllium exposure hazards, please go to the Department of Energy’s beryllium information website at http://orise.orau.gov/oews/be-studies-testing.htm.
About Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov)
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.
Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the National Nuclear Security Administration
WWW.LANL.GOV
WWW.LANL.GOV
[Download a copy of the news release here.]
92 comments:
Oh No! I can just imagine the news Headlines on this one. Here we go again, no wonder Mikey was in such a sour mood on Monday. This will be big news, and not too great for the lab.
It's just bizarre the way LANS handles these things. Waiting until today to announce this when they've known about it since November thoroughly discredits all the lip service they pay to caring about worker safety. The contamination probably pre-dates LANS. They could have announced this months ago, said "We inherited this but we're fixing it!", and come away looking responsible and professional. Instead they'll walk away with yet another scar on their reputation.
This should not affect my bonus, will it?
MIKEY
This is not responsible reporting, for the people involved or for LANS hiding this information. It may have taken this long to figure out what to do, and yes they again did it wrong, what kind of leadership is running this place. This surley goes to show just what a sad state of affairs we are in with LANS.
I remember in 2002, our Group Leader at Sigma telling us that airborne Be. was not a problem? I wonder if they have since changed their mind, that entire Bldg. was covered with Be. and yes they knew it back then, have they also contacted all of the people who worked and entered SM66, including visitors?
Beryllium is literally everywhere at the firing sites. Those who were susceptible have CBD. It isn't exactly a new phenomenon. In fact, the DOE has been dodging this issue and their liability for decades. Ever wonder why explosive work is being moved to Nevada? It is because the Los Alamos firing sites are too crapped up with legacy material of one sort or another.
"..what kind of leadership is running this place."
Why, the finest management that money can buy! In fact, $80 million dollars worth each and every year. And NNSA is lov'in it.
A check with news sources shows they have picked up this story and it is quickly spreading.
Way to go, LANS! You've outdone yourself this time. I suggest you give the local politicos free tours of the Be plant at their next LANS love fest free breakfast. It will be a visit they'll never forget.
"For the remaining approximately 1,650 visitors, the risks of exposure are extremely low because of the activities performed and the relatively short period of time spent at the location."
For most of them. Probably. You hope.
The truth is you don't know how many people got a good whiff or two of beryllium dust. Even if nobody did, it is inexcusable not to communicate the risk as soon as you knew of it.
"For approximately 240 employees who worked at the facility, documented experience shows that approximately two percent (2%) of these workers exposed to beryllium could become sensitized."
So, that's only about 5 people getting sick. What is the problem here. That is collateral damage. That is below the threshold for affecting my bonus.
MIKEY
This story is now being covered by over 200 sites and growing fast. Even CNN has picked it up in the last hour, but there is no need to worry because Kevin Roark is on the job:
********
CNN News, Jan 29 - Nearly 2,000 people warned of possible beryllium exposure
"It's just one building at one technical area," Roark said, noting that the laboratory covers 36 square miles and has nearly 10,000 employees.
Roark said the alert was sent because "we think it's the responsible, prudent thing to do to let people know we discovered this contamination and to answer their questions if they have any concern about potential for exposure."
There are no reports of sickness and "we don't expect anyone to be ill," he said.
The risk to the visitors would be "extremely low" because of the activities they performed and their short exposure time, Roark said.
An operator will be available at the laboratory at 505-665-7233 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday through Friday.
http:/edition.cnn.com/2009/
HEALTH/01/29/los.alamos.beryllium/
********
Now I feel much better. LANS operators are standing by and waiting for your calls!
> This should not affect my bonus, will it?
>
> MIKEY
Only if this bad news causes a loss of funding to the Lab and you have to lay off more people.
Then your bonus increases because you saved money by laying people off.
We shut down the lab for 4 months over a missing bar code that never existed... but this? This one is OK? LANS says it's nothing much to worry about? All they while they are pushing new safety programs up the wazoo of all the workers? But this event is nothing?
Wow! I'm mean, really... WOW!!!
Go figure.
You think maybe they're ready to talk about TA-55 now?
88, 87, 86, 85... I see LANS FY09 performance score starting to drop. Find the janitor who is responsible for this mess and FIRE him!
I guess this means will soon have to add 'Beryillium Safety Training' to the long list of online courses required for all LANL employees.
OK John Fleck : a few questions you may want to ask.
How did the Be. get into th building at TA 41?
How does Be. become powder from a solid state, maybe they were working with it? who was charging their time to this program and what was going on down there, this building is not approved to handle Be. in any form.
There is much more to this story than what Kevin has told us, now lets see how our esteemed Leadership handles this one, Belive me this one is goning to BIG, BIG. Sen. Udall has called for a complete investigation, maybe they should look at the Simga Building and maybe CMR? Wonder what they would find?
Wait till CBS picks up this one, call it pay-back for the missing Stang.
Maybe this will allow LANS to come clean with the Sigma Building, CMR, and TA 55.
Or maybe Mikey read the latest memo from Pres. Obama (transparency) and took it to heart? Come on guy's out with all those dirty little secrets you've been keeping uder the rug, now is a good time to become
"Transparent" as glass to both the Congress the employee's and the Public, about time don't you think?
Anon 1:09
The question might better be addressed to Raam Wong, who is the Journal reporter covering the story. :-)
This place needs a stand-down to address this issues and punish the innocent. I can help with the stand-down. I know how to do it.
PETE NANOS
There was some dust on my car this morning. Is it beryllium dust? Will my car be ok?
Is it a '57 Chevy?
"Maybe this will allow LANS to come clean with the Sigma Building, CMR, and TA 55. "
WTF are you talking about???
I'm just glad I have a television and watch the news! Otherwise, Mikey might have continued to hold it a secret. Too sad that I had to hear it first on TV. I need not bother to go to future all-employee meetings.
So I have visited TA-41 several times during the past 25 years. Why wasn't I notified? Why didn't the notification go to all Lab employees? Do I now need to prove that I pasted through the gates at TA-41?
In terms of the argument that "the risks of exposure are extremely low because of the activities performed and the relatively short period of time spent at the location." This is a premature media statement that has no scientific basis. No conclusion can be made until an independent assessment is perfomed to identify the the source, location, and cause. It may well be that the source is at located at some other Technical Area.
LANS has serious liability issues on this contamination.
LANS has many employees known to have CBD. There is existing legislation to test and cover these people's medical costs. Like everything else...duck and cover. Duck and cover, boys.
So this "news" was released yesterday, 3 months after LANL knew about it? Yesterday I got this in the all LANL employee mail, the top story as always being Safety and Security (rather than science):
Environmental, Safety & Security Information
Test Your Safety, Security and Environmental IQ -- Of the following choices, what would you do if you lifted the lid of a LANL recycle bin and smelled an unusual chemical odor?
A. Close the bin and go back to your office
B. Tell the group admin
C. Find the nearest fire alarm and pull it
D. If it seems like an immediate emergency, call 911. If you believe the problem is contained within the recycle bin without immediate threat, enlist the help of your manager to isolate the bin or prevent access and call Emergency Management at 7-6211 so they can come and handle it properly.
No mentioning about the Beryllium and nearly 2000 exposed people. It appears that the correct answer to the above, following our leaders example, is alternative A.
Have Senators Udall, Bingamin and Domenici been called yet and told they'll need to come in for a Be blood test? And what about the other 650 "visitors" who were on that list for contamination?
I would love to be listening on the phone line when Mikey is making the VIP calls to some of these "visitors"!
Don't let Kevin Roark's little tattle tales fool you. This is a MAJOR story and there will be serious repercussions coming from it.
Has LANS announced exactly which building it was and which parts of the building had been dusted with Be? And if the dust wasn't seen by anyone for several years, doesn't that indicate that is was a very fine grain Be dust which could be easily ingested deep into the lungs, and thus far more dangerous than Kevin Roark would have everyone believe?
Pass some more popcorn. This has been good. Watching the antis and malcontents get all lathered up, andhope for the apocolypse. For anyone with a modicum of understanding of these risks, you can put this in context. At present, no one has reported any ill-effects, thse notifications were precautionary.
So, let's focus on the real Berylliuym threat: your own homes! What, you say! I don't have Be in my homes? Ah contraire. CuBe alloys (roughly 07.-2.% Be) are the standard conductor materials in wall sockets. Anytime you want good electrical conductivity and spring properties (you know, for insertable electical components like wall plugs and batteries?) You use Cu/Be. CuBe alloys are in your cellphone and car. Think about that the next auto wreck you see. Every house in america has mesurable amounts of Be. Alert Pogo! Alert NMED! Only in very specific forms does it pose a hazard. Ever cut a wire with a table saw? A PCB? Maybe a wall socket? Maybe accidently had your sawz-all cut through a wall socket? Well jolly folks you may just have made Be dust. Where's the news release! The testing! The Pogo advisories to the press!
Only thing unique here is the LANL involvement which happens to have compentent health phsyics teams that can montior and track down these sources. It takes time, and the internal investigation jsut finished some initial work which suggested visitors to TA-41 should be notified of *possible* exposure, with some tests offered (for free) to confirm exposure. So far, no one has tested positive. Sounds like good management practice to me, especially considering the dozens of other Be releases at other sites reports by POGO that didn't have this level of management contact, following, and follow-on testing. Seems like LANS is the responsible party here for once. What did Hanford, Y-12, LLNL, and SNL due with there dozens of Be breeches? Cant find much on them.
Before you bash LANS,get some perspective. I think LANS is handling this as well as anyone in the complex, and the complex is far out ahead of other industries in dealing with Be componds which completely liter the electrified cities and countryside of Amercian. Oh, might we add PCB contanimation to that list, too.. PCBs are prehaps the most toxic legacy from the elecrification of America in the 30s and 40s. Asbestos would rank a close second. Be is fairly far down the risk, though it is ubiquitis.
Facts in Industrial Hygiene 101 is open for class discussion.
Go to bed Kevin.
10:37 is a grade-a piece of crap. Of course no one has gotten sick yet, because CBD has a long latency period. Using 10:37's logic, 10:37 would not mind being injected with HIV, since he would not get AIDS for 5-10 years.
To the contrary of what 10:37 suggests, the relevant management and building managers should be prosecuted for negligent attempted murder.
Good points. Maybe I'll dignify 10:37 with a few comments tomorrow. Tonight I'm just giving him enough rope to...
Frank, I know this topic hits close to home but 10:37 has some good points and obviously (to me) comes from a position of knowledge. Probably is a beryllium worker (as am I) and may even be one of LANL's scientists who are advancing knowledge in this field. (I almost said "one of LANL's experts" but then realized that everyone would read that as "ES&H staff").
A few more thoughts:
- The DOE Beryllium rule sets action levels 10x tighter than OSHA rules. Had this been an industrial release, only a tiny fraction of the notifications would have been pertinent.
- 1:09 PM comments that this building was not approved to handle beryllium. The regulations for handling beryllium monoliths (compacts) are significantly different from the regulations for handling/generating particulates. Yesterday's ABQ Journal coverage did a pretty good job of making this distinction.
- 6:56 PM is exactly why, in my estimation, LANS did the right thing by spending 2-3 months characterizing the problem and identifying all of the people who might have been exposed. Let's say they announced back in November "We had a release of Be at TA-41 but we don't know how much, where, when, and who might be affected by it." Why do you all consider it so reprehensible to spend a dozen or so weeks determining the nature of this problem? This isn't like an Ebola epidemic where minutes and hours count in terms of containment. I peripherally know some of the people who have been working on the notifications for the past two months. They have been deciphering hand-written visitor log sheets until their eyeballs bled, trying to get the job done correctly.
- 10:37 PM, "why wasn't the dust seen..." The DOE action level for Be on surfaces is 0.02 ug/100 cm2. Can YOU see that amount of beryllium dust, especially amidst all the rest of the dust in New Mexico? I have seen contaminated facility swipes at this & higher Be levels and they are utterly indistinguishable from the dust on my Swiffer at home. (LOL, then again, I do live in Los Alamos!)
- 10:37 PM, CBD *can* have a long latency period, but often does not. Some people show symptoms within weeks or months of initial exposure.
Honestly. It's not good that the Lab had undetected beryllium contamination in one building for a long time. But this was not the Otowi cafeteria where members of the public can traipse in and out. I personally do not find the lag time between discovery and reporting to be reprehensible for the reasons stated above. The contamination may have predated LANS (it was sometime post-2001 according to the ABQ Journal) but LANS is taking all reasonable steps to contact the people who might have been exposed and provide testing. Anyone on this list who shows evidence of Be sensitization will have lifetime followup, and treatment if applicable. Interestingly, now that the Lab has admitted to the possible onsite exposure, the tab for this will be footed by DOE regardless of whether that individual might have been exposed to beryllium elsewhere during their lifetime.
I am not a fan of LANS or our senior management, in fact I have posted MANY scathing criticisms here myself in the past. But on this one, I just don't know what more can be reasonably done.
1/29/09 10:27 PM
"Before you bash LANS,get some perspective. I think LANS is handling this as well as anyone in the complex..."
Sounds like you may be the NNSA representative that gave LANS the 88% score and one year contract extension.
Gosh, finally some voices of reason, 7:36 am.
They found Be contamination in the Ad building several years ago (at one time the building housed labs). Residents and visitors of the Ad building did not get tested for sensitivity to Be. The Lab hustled everyone into the auditorium and gave a speech that sounded a lot like 1/29/09 10:37 PM. Nobody cared then. Nobody cares now.
"CuBe alloys (roughly 07.-2.% Be) are the standard conductor materials in wall sockets." (10:37 PM)
It's not the fact that this LANL incident involves Be metal, you idiot! It's the fact that fine grade Be dust was found in the building. Beryllium dust can be easily ingested into the lungs!!!
It is well know that some consumer items are made with Be alloys. That doesn't make them dangerous. Be only becomes a problem when it is made into fine particles, as was clearly the case with this incident.
And the fact that LANS held this info back for months? That Mike Anastasio said not a word about it at this week's All-Hands meeting while he started the meeting off trumpeting the WSSP worker safety program?
This is completely inexcusable, especially went you consider how LANS is shoving safety messages down the throats of employees. The LANS hypocrisy here truly is mind-boggling!
Famous words used by those who anonymously wish to defend LANS bad behavior... "I am not a fan of LANS or our senior management..".
You lost credibility when you throw out that whopper.
I'm detecting possible hints of an organized effort within LANS upper management to try and manage the damage of the Beryllium story with posting on this blog.
Any one hear about the LANL issued Blackberry that was lost or stolen overseas in a sensitive country?
I didn't know that the lab issued Blackberry phones. Must have been carried by someone at the higher levels of LANS management:
http://www.kdbc.com/
Global/story.asp?S=
9756373&nav=menu608_2_3
****
Los Alamos says lost equipment no security breach
Associated Press - January 29, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Los Alamos National Laboratory says there was no security breach when a Blackberry belonging to a lab employee was lost in a sensitive foreign country.
An internal lab e-mail released today by a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group also shows three lab computers were taken during a break-in at a scientist's Santa Fe home.
The Project on Government Oversight says the incidents are getting attention from senior management and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
POGO says it's disturbed by the incidents because of past security lapses at the nuclear weapons lab over the past decade.
Lab spokesman Kevin Roark says it's absolutely false to imply that the lost or stolen equipment constituted a security breach. He says computers allowed off lab property don't contain sensitive information.
I overheard something about it being the "ice house" area. Anyone know where that is?
Now you know LANS is in deep dodo, when managers post on this blog! It is crystal clear who some of these poster are, one has been mentioned by name.
Can't wait for the investagation, this could be great viewing, plus it keeps LANL on the front page for a good while.
Any retiree's up for a good conversation with Sen. Udall's office?
The "Ice house" is located close to the old Omega site. Straight down the canyon from the old Los Alamos Inn.
Well, as one who got a notice of possible Be exposure today, I can tell you the location was the tunnel near the old Omega West reactor. I wonder if LANS is going to send out similar cautionary notes to the thousands upon thousands of people who worked on, toured, visited etc. the true contaminated areas at the firing sites. Literally tons of beryllium has been expended out there in fine particles without a word from LANS. This mass mailing is a charade designed to provide LANS cover for the real problems. Nuclear weapons work should not be a for-profit business enterprise.
As an affected employee, what I object to is learning about this through the news media, as usual, instead of my management.
Their assertion that they've sent out letters is pointless.
My letter still has not arrived via US Mail, of course, because US Mail in NM is a disaster, but the media got the news instantly. And they're not affected!
Of course, my W-2 was sent to my LANL mail stop, and arrived in no time...like my Be letter should have been.
Jeez, I've got a LANL mail stop, telephone, pager, and an unclassified and classified e-mail address.
And yet they send an important health-related incident notification to me via US mail?
Do people in LANL management and administration THINK any more?
"He says computers allowed off lab property don't contain sensitive information."
Pretty sure that's not true, unless his definition of "sensitive" is different than mine.
I called the telephone number given to ask a few questions about being exposed to Be. I can't believe the idiots they have there. This is a major failure on their AD Watkins. I can't believe anything that comes out of Watkins mouth. I understand he is leaving. Thank God. LANL needs a congressional investigation into the mess that Watkins and his team of IHs have created by not doing their jobs. BTW, why wasn't I notified in November?
Claiming that Be dust is no big deal because Be alloy is used in various consumer items is like saying that the americium powder incident which happened back in 2007 was no big deal because americium is, after all, used in common household fire detectors. Oh, wait, Kevin Roark already used that lame excuse back in 2007.
The LANS spin machine is running at full tilt.
All the hyperventilating here ignores the fact that the press has already dropped this. Nobody want to help you pursue your vendetta. Get over yourselves.
Go to bed, Kevin.
It is unfortunate that about a half-dozen workmen toiled in that area without proper PPE. They were told that the area was clean. Now they find they contacted the contamination with their bare hands and rolled in the dust on the floor and breathed dust up in the rafters as they worked a number of projects. Now they are told the area is contaminated. Surprisingly, LANL management is aghast at finding out at this late date that workmen had actually been significantly exposed with no PPE for great lengths of time. Management did not have a clue that these guys had actually conducted their assigned work in that hot area. These exposures are likely much greater than LANL management knew about at the time the Be contamination news releases went public. Will there be a phase-2 press release? I doubt it.
It's a shame you're not getting paid to fuck up, LANS, because if you were you'd be doing a damn good job of it.
9:32 pm: "Management did not have a clue that these guys had actually conducted their assigned work in that hot area."
Oh, get a clue. The Ice House (or at least some of it) was always known as and treated as a "hot area." Be contamination was not suspected, and has nothing to do with the area being "hot" (radioacively). Geez, do your homework.
10:56 is full of crap. Unless the contention is that someone smuggled Be in without anyone in the chain of command knowing it, there is no excuse for sending workers into a 'hot' area. And while 'hot' often refers to radioactivity, it is also well understood to refer to other dangers, as exemplified by the book about biological dangers, "The Hot Zone."
I agree we need a full investigation into LANL's safety program. Something's really wrong here. DOE? GAO? IG?
I don't disagree about the investigation, but there needs to be more.
DOE, at least by their inaction, allows these things to happen. They aren't going to do anything.
GAO will write a top quality report that will be read by...?
IG? They are too busy and understaffed. They rely on LANS to investigate itself. No help there.
So what is the fix? We need to start putting people behind bars. Knowingly allowing people to work in contaminated areas without informing them should be a felony crime. It isn't any different than getting a job at the lab cafeteria and poisoning everyone's food.
And spinning it to the press is "aiding and abetting". Let's call it what it is. Criminal.
"Do people in LANL management and administration THINK any more?" (6:25 PM)
Yes, we THINK about those big piles of "for-profit" LANS cash and bonuses each and every day!
- Mike and his Bechtel Buddies
1/30/09 7:26 AM here again. There is a logical fallacy in one of my points that I would like to correct. I said:
"- The DOE Beryllium rule sets action levels 10x tighter than OSHA rules. Had this been an industrial release, only a tiny fraction of the notifications would have been pertinent."
My assumption here was that the detected amounts of Be were only modestly over the DOE action limit. But one of the press reports quotes Kevin Roark as admitting that the surface contamination levels were "hundreds" of ug/cm2. So using the OSHA standard instead of the DOE standard would not have affected the number of people who received notifications.
Mea culpa.
Per 100 cm2.
Sorry again. I gotta stop smoking crack in the morning.
I wonder what will happen when people do indeed began to get sick, (of course I don't wish anyone any ill will) but how is LANS planning to handle the fallout? Or will they try to hide, and blame it on "Wonder" bread. This will likely have much far reaching effect than what we see today. I also think that the number of non-employee's that passed through TA 41 has been downsized.
"I also think that the number of non-employee's that passed through TA 41 has been downsized." - 1/31/09 8:54 PM
Indeed it appears the number of visitors has been downsized. I also wonder if the really important (recognized, high-visibility) visitors that have been there will be notified like the rest of us peons. The fairly recent exposure to Be at TA-41 by a number of staff is indeed biggie sized; much bigger than managers had imagined. I hope those managers are having a good weekend.
Another nail in the coffin...
I hope those managers are having a good weekend.
1/31/09 10:06 PM
Don't kid yourself. Why should LANS executives worry about this incident?
If anything bad comes from it, they'll find some lower level peons to fire and then give themselves a fat bonus for "uncovering" the problem.
Believe me, they are not the least bit worried about this incident hurting their positions of privilege at the lab.
It's the LANL work force that should worry about what might result because of this latest case: more crazy policies, higher labor costs, greater amounts of disciplinary actions for minor infractions, more blab from Mikey about his deep concern for safety, more Bechtel management coming in to "help" the lab, more online training, stand-downs, etc, etc, etc.
Mike and his buddies can sleep well knowing that the fix is in, as always.
Honestly, I don't know how Mike and the California mafia can look themselves in the mirror. In most ways they are worse than Nanos...and that takes some real, concerted, collusion and effort.
If the lab knowingly allowed workers and visitors in a Be contaminated area, I believe a criminal investigation would be appropriate.
Perhaps all this deadly Be dust can somehow just be conveniently "sweep under the rug"?
Jeez, you guys. Get over it. It is a dead issue. The mainstream press would have to do too much technical homework to make this story have legs. Just another "cold war era contamination issue" that won't interest anyone past the day after tomotrow.
Yes, let's listen to 9:40 and let this get buried.
I don't think this story will die so easily. Sen. Udall has already gone on record that he's angry about it. You've got 650 non-LANL VIPs who went through that area. There is also the possibility that some local concentrations of the Be dust may have been much greater than even the listed amount. This is not a minor event and it should have been detected by LANL years ago.
All in all, LANS management may wish this incident would die a quick death, but this story has legs. There will be repercussions from it. Maybe not tomorrow or the next week, but in the next couple of months. The worst part about it is that the repercussion will probably hurt the employees more than upper management.
As a retired Pulic Health Service physician, I can tell you Beryllium exposure IS a big deal, health-wise. The 2% incidence of sensitization that is quoted here is in fact low. An initial health screening in 1998 by DOE of 23,000 former workers for Be, has revealed an incidence of 3-4% BeS (beryllium sensitivity), and about 1% CBD (chronic beryllium disease) AT THE TIME of screening. Time exposed, route(inhaled vs skin) and intensity of exposure are just part of the risk picture. There is a genetic component which can increase liklihood of contracting berylliosis, a respiratory illness that can lead to cancer. New genetic tests are being developed.
Ex: If you are a LANL Be+ machinist, then you have a much higher incidence of conversion annually to CBD. (30% or>) Scientists and engineers and the like, about 10%.
Anyone who is sensitized (BeS) will convert to CBD at a rate of about 6-8% a year.
The other part of this story is that once you test positive by blood BeLPT (beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test) then Medical Centers such as National Jewish in Denver, who partners with DOE/DOL, will want to use their clinical protocol to do more invasive testing such as CT Scans, bronchoscopy, and/or lung biopsy to look for classic signs of CBD.
Monitoring is typically done about every 2 years, more frequently once you have the disease. It is not a benign process.
I assist current and former DOE workers w/ BeS or CBD under EEOICPA, and as such attend medical conferences on the latest beryllium disease research.
Another side note: Of 16 nuclear weapons facilities around the country listed on DOE's web site, that are part of the free worker screening for Be since 1998 to present, LANL was not among them.
M. Merritt
Correction to the above blog; that's US Public Health Service.
BTW, a similar delayed reporting of a Be exposure incident happened at LLNL last year. Might be interesting to check and see how they handled that one, and what the (pardon the bad pun) fallout has been.
Dr. Maureen Merritt
ANWAG/CWP
NMA/NWA
Thanks Dr. Merritt!
Here is a link to the Livermore beryllium story.
The story is dated 19 Dec 2008.
Some of the recently Be-exposed TA-41 workers have still not received the letter from LANS. There is little information coming from LANS management other than a canned email listing a few contacts for further information with LANS OCC-MED "medical" staff. Looks like LANS workers, especially the handfull with recent potentially high exposures, are on their own to find help for their Be exposures. And of course the support comes via "the company doctor".
As of 2/2 10:00 pm MST, no national news exposure since 1/29 (acording to Google). It's over. No legs as a national story. Ya'll can stop hyperventilating now.
Let the (provably) harmed come forward, Let everyone else shut up, already.
Everyone who entered the place was provably harmed. You aren't off the hook. Let those who are responsible come forward and face the criminal justice system.
10:41 pm: "Everyone who entered the place was provably harmed."
What proof? Against what accused? Unless Obamaland has been achieved, the accused require proof to be convicted. The "responsible" aren't determined until a crime and guilt is established. The accusers must come forth or be silent. It's called the Constitution. Your brush may be broad, but your knowledge isn't.
10:41,
I publish almost anything sent in as a comment. If 10:02 upset you then here is my suggestion:
1. Google free press release.
2. Copy and paste the press release from this blog post into several relevant free press release services.
3. Feel free to include a link to this blog post and/or your own tips for journalists on how to decode the spin.
4. Sit back with some popcorn and enjoy the show.
I hate to admit it, but 10:02 PM is correct. This incident is going to be deeply buried by LANS and NNSA.
LANS and NNSA are probably hoping that almost none of the people who receive those letters take any actions to be tested and just forget about the whole thing. No further actions will be done other than cleanup ops and it will all be kept low key. The Director won't even mention it at any future safety meetings.
Don't expect to even see a Lessons Learned come out of this baby. Out of sight, out of mind - that's the LANS corporate motto.
What proof? You're nuts. Go snort some beryllium dust.
What crimes? Hopefully 10:41 will tell us what he had in mind. I don't know what law applies. Criminal malfeasance was mentioned in the comments on the Livermore blog.
"The responsible aren't determined until a crime and guilt is established"? Sounds like you've already lawyered up. You're not responsible for your actions unless you are convicted of a crime? Is that what you really meant to say?
Oww...Brain hurt.
Ms. Merritt -
"Another side note: Of 16 nuclear weapons facilities around the country listed on DOE's web site, that are part of the free worker screening for Be since 1998 to present, LANL was not among them."
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. I am a LANL worker and I receieve routine annual screening for beryllium sensitization, in accordance with my job duties.
Glad to hear it, 7:16. I wasn't 'trying' to say anything.
Simply reporting a fact per DOE's web site. If you peruse it you will see that LANL was apparently late to the party of routine Be screening for it's employees. By now of course, all the DOE facilities do Be screening.
BTW, my title is Dr.
Here's some more basic info for you potentially exposed LANL employees: The old '99 OSHA standards for 'acceptable' Be exposure in the workplace was
no >than 2mcq/m3 as a TWA(time weighted ave.)over an 8 hour period.
The EPA tho, says no >than 0.01 mcq/m3 released into the air over a 30 day period.(miniscule amt!)
National Jewish Med Center of Denver (nationally recognized leaders on Be disease) as well as other medical experts acknowledge
there IS NO safe level of Be exposure.
See www.atsdr.cdc.gov for toxfacts on Beryllium. Also NIOSH has only recently (past year or so) begun newletters on the topic.
Point here: General awareness of Be causing some health problems has been known for decades. But refined knowledge of the beryllium exposure/disease process is not that old and is evolving; only in the last ~ 10 years has it been on the Fed's front burner. This includes DOE.
Not to alarm, but the bottom line is this; if you think you may have been exposed at TA41 (or elsewhere in the complex) w/o PPE, check in with Occ Med or your own provider for testing and follow-up. (And keep an eye on how LANS handles this one.)
OK, I'm off my soapbox!
MM
Well, residents of the old Admin building were notified years ago that the building was contaminated with Be dust, and no one got tested. Just a lecture and lots of "you would know by now if it's a problem for you". And "there's Be in the soil around here, so every time you open your window you're exposed". They made it sound like no big deal.
That building held the main auditorium, so the number of people who may have been exposed is huge.
The old Admin building was demolished not long ago. I wonder if the workers doing the demolition took any special precautions. Did they track that Be dust all over Ottowi building, at lunch time?
Back to Be testing. Several years ago, residents at TA-48 were notified of potential Be exposure. We were all given the option to enroll in the LANL Be program.
"The old Admin building was demolished not long ago. I wonder if the workers doing the demolition took any special precautions. Did they track that Be dust all over Ottowi building, at lunch time?" - 2/3/09 2:10 PM
Um, the old Ad Bldg is still there. The old Scyllac Bldg was knocked down to make room for new Ad Bldg.
As well as tracking Be all over the Otowi Cafeteria, for quite a long time the Cafeteria cooked with live steam from the TA-3 central steam heat distribution system. All the good ammines and other anti-fouling agents in the steam system went right past the cooked goods. Problem was fixed a while back with installation of a closed-loop heat exchanger to keep the live steam carry-overs from being a problem. Also for quite some time, the same live steam and all its cruddy content was used for humidifying the air in the central computing facilities.
2:10 PM, you don't get out much, do you? The old Admin building is still standing right where it always was. The lights are off and the doors are locked, but even that didn't happen until a few months ago. Sue Seestrom and Mary Neu used it as their palace for a couple years after everyone else moved to the NSSB.
Hey Dr. 9:57 AM, "National Jewish Med Center of Denver (nationally recognized leaders on Be disease) ..."
I have no faith in this place as they mis-diagnosed Jaime Tournear as having lung damage by inhalation of aqua regia fumes 3months prior to when she supposedly got sick versus the real cause, chronic bullemia, which they refused to even consider. Amazing what a hospital will do when a national laboratory pays you off. But hey, just going on what my group leader told me. It could just be a rumor ...
There will be a meeting at LANL for employees with concerns about the Be exposure this Thursday at 8:30am.
Anyone see the article over in Tuesday's Los Alamos Monitor about this subject?
LASO briefed the County Council about the incident and the Council was none too happy about the way both LANS and NNSA have handled this event!
No, I don't get back to Los Alamos often. But someone told me the Admin building was finally gone. I guess not yet, though it has been slated for destruction for years.
But I was a resident of the Admin building and I got a physical letter about the Be contamination. It was also mentioned during my exit physical, but they still did no specific tests, unless the lung capacity test counts.
Now about the Scyllac building -- it was also known to be contaminated with all sorts of nasties, yet they housed summer students there until shortly before it was destroyed. It was obvious to even the summer students that LANL didn't take safety seriously. All of the students were informed of the contamination, but they were given no better guidance than, "don't breath deeply" and "good luck because we have no place else to put you". This tells you how much LANL cared about its summer students. Now who's tracking the health of those kids?
What about the infamous Tiger Team that took up residence in Scyllac during their tenure?...never mind the summer students.
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