Linda Evers - Uranium Worker
The following is an excerpt from testimony Linda delivered at a Senate Hearing in 2018 on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments. Read Linda’s full testimony, as well as those of other Post-71 Uranium Workers, here.
I began my work in uranium in 1976, after I graduated from high school, and my last year was in 1982. I live in Grants, New Mexico in the middle of what is considered the Grants Mineral Belt.
I started on the labor gang on the surface in the mill with the Kerr McGee Corporation. Mostly, it entailed shoveling a lot of ore. However, there were other specific jobs that the labor gang performed such as checking the daily tailings pond levels. One windy day the boat was caught up in a gust of wind and dumped the two of us into the pond. There was no medical attention administered or any concern for radiation over-exposure for us workers at all, the main worry seemed to be the loss of the boat.
Later that same summer, I was assigned to scrape the inside of the acid tanks . Acid was produced on-site as part of the leaching process to separate yellowcake from the ore. I was not provided any special equipment for this job. I had to do that job for a week before they changed out the workers. I had to replace my work clothes after that job because they just rotted away.
[Later,] I was assigned to the crusher department as a third-class operator. The crusher began the process of yellowcake production. This is a very dusty job, there was one small fan that most of the time didn’t work, and when it did, it pulled air in from the outside, basically, making a small, continual dust devil in the room. We were allowed one paper mask that was useless after an hour or so because it was plugged with dirt, so I used a bandana that wasn’t much better.
In August of 1978 I informed my foreman that I was pregnant, and was told that I could continue working since there were no complications with the pregnancy. With the baby and me healthy, they expected me to do my assigned job until the baby came. My son was born with a birth defect that, according to the doctor that did the surgery to fix him, was caused by over exposure to radiation. I returned to work after 6 weeks and in the summer of 1981 informed the foreman again of my second pregnancy with the same results. My daughter was born with defects that could not be repaired with a simple surgery. She had to have 5 surgeries before she was 4 years old to build the hips she was born without. The professional medical people that were responsible for her surgeries and recovery convinced me that over exposure to radiation was the cause of her birth defect and I quit working in uranium that day.
Fast forward to 1993 when I was 35 years old. While living and working in Kansas City, Kansas, I dislocated my right thumb at work and went to a hand specialist. He was reviewing the X-rays with me and discussing the options for repair when he asked me out of the blue when had I been over exposed to radiation. He said that I had no joint to repair that the thumb joint had worn out until it was completely gone, there was no joint to relocate. Further research showed that my bones were deteriorated to a degree that was mostly seen only in elderly people. After months of testing the results showed that my bone deterioration was directly correlated to my over exposure to radiation while working in the uranium industry in New Mexico. The doctors also discovered that I had degenerative joint and bone disease, arthritis conditions, regular, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. I became disabled due to these and other illnesses and diseases at 35 years old.
As I age, many other issues have manifested. I have pulmonary fibrosis, many joints have had to be fused or replaced, while many more joints, such as my hips, are failing. I have severe obstructive sleep apnea, and I’m losing my eyesight and hearing at a rapid rate. I have cancerous growths removed every 2-3 years from my skin everywhere on my body, sometimes they need removed from inside my body as well. I have several different types of skin rashes that cause my skin to break open and bleed on a regular basis. The rashes form as numerous small blisters, itch and then break open, and finally, my skin turns hard and peels off in large chunks. This happens to my hands 4-5 times a year.
My story is only one of many horror stories from uranium workers around the country. I ask that you support the RECA Amendments, (Radiation Exposure Compensation Act), to help get justice for the Post ’71 uranium workers that have been ignored for so many years. We were told every day that we were working to secure the freedom of every American in this country, and it seems that it is a harsh reality that the country we gave our lives for continues to ignore us now when we need our government to help us.