Three Washington state Democrats made a last-minute attempt to revive a proposal in the state Legislature to help ill personnel from the Hanford Site win easier approval of workers’ compensation claims. Their bill was scheduled for discussion Wednesday in an executive session of the Senate Commerce, Labor and, Sports Committee, but the meeting was canceled when an unrelated hearing ran long.
The committee is unlikely to meet again before the Legislature adjourns, which likely will be today (June 30). Lawmakers in Olympia have reached a tentative agreement on a state budget, the focus of a third special session of the Legislature. But the resurfacing of the Hanford worker proposal indicates it is likely to be introduced again next year.
A nearly identical bill, HB 1723, passed the House earlier this year, but then failed to pass out of the Commerce, Labor, and Sports Committee to allow consideration by the full Senate. Sens. Karen Keiser, Steve Conway, and Guy Palumbo, all representing districts in the more liberal west side of Washington, then introduced SB 5940 long after the traditional March cutoff date for legislation to move forward. Hanford is on the more conservative east side of Washington.
Keiser’s staff said the new bill was introduced out of concern for Hanford worker safety after the May 9 discovery of the partial collapse of the tunnel storing radioactive waste from the PUREX plant. While the breach has been temporarily stabilized, concerns remain over Hanford infrastructure, some of it dating to World War II. No worker was injured in the partial collapse and no airborne radioactive particles were detected.
The Senate bill would require the Washington state Department of Labor and Industry to presume that a wide range of worker illnesses were caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals or radioactive material at Hanford if an employee had spent as little as one eight-hour shift anywhere on the 580-square-mile cleanup site.
The Department of Energy is self-insured for workers’ compensation claims, which are administered by a third party, with the state determining approval or rejection of each claim. Some Hanford workers say proving exposure to get a claim approved can today be nearly impossible.
The bill would allow DOE to rebut the new presumption that disease was caused by exposure at Hanford with evidence that other factors were to blame, including the worker’s tobacco use, weight, lifestyle, or exposure from other work or activities. Covered diseases would include many cancers, neurological or respiratory disease, beryllium disease, and any heart problems experienced within 24 hours of an exposure.
The Department of Energy did not take a public stand on either of the bills. But business interests opposed the initial House legislation. The Washington Self-Insurers Association said the bill was far too broad, allowing one eight-hour shift to entitle a worker to a presumption of coverage for life. The Tri-City Development Council said small businesses that do only one-time work at Hanford would have to create a separate tracking and liability system for any worker assigned there for as little as a day.
