Lawmaker Proposes to Give Federal Nuclear Workers Disease Presumption

A Washington state lawmakers introduced legislation that would create a presumption that certain diseases contracted by workers at a federal nuclear storage facility are occupational in nature. House Bill 1723, by Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, would give workers at the Hanford nuclear site a presumption that work exposure caused respiratory and neurological diseases, as well as any heart problems experienced within 72 hours of exposure to fumes, toxic substances or chemicals. The presumption would also apply to leukemia, lymphomas and cancers that develop in bones, organs or glands. The ...