June 10, 1998
Just recently, Eugene Albright,a Linde/Praxair worker, was
removing a heavy-duty door frame in Building 14. He was using a cutting torch
to remove the frame in sections. No radiation protective gear was worn by the
employee because this area was supposed to be decontaminated. At the end of the
day, Albright picked up his tools and left. Later, it was discovered that the
debris that was left behind was radioactive. The next morning, all of the
debris had been removed and the area cleaned up. Now, the doorway is boarded up
and roped off with radiation warning signs posted.
When Albright came to work the next workday, he was directed to
report to have readings taken on his clothing and self. It was found that his
clothing had been contaminated. Also, he had worn these clothes home, thereby
possibly contaminating his family. At present, the Union is trying to get a
report on how much radiation the worker was exposed to. Latest information is
that the employee was given a test kit to obtain a urine sample. This will
determine how much radiation was absorbed by the employee. We will be anxiously
awaiting to see what kind of a "spin" will be put on this story by L/P
officials. We note again that this area of Building 14 was supposedly
decontaminated.
This also brings up another point - why were mandatory
physicals required in the past? It would appear that this was undoubtedly done
to monitor any radioactive contamination of the workers either by inhalation or
ingestion of the radioactive dusts present at the worksite. If so, this was
done without the workers' knowledge.
