KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The list of sick and dead workers from the Bannister Federal Complex reported to NBC Action News has increased to 134 people, 39 of them are dead.
NBC Action News created the list through interviews, e-mails, and
forms from NBCActionNews.com people have completed online to track claims.
Wednesday night about 40 people showed up at a town hall meeting held at the St. Thomas More Parish looking for answers.
Many of those attending were former employees from the weapons facility, or were there representing a former worker who has passed away.
“I’m here to see what we have to do on behalf of my brother,” said Claudette Watson whose brother died last year of lung cancer.
Watson's brother, 55-year-old Trent Bell, worked at the weapons plant in the 1980’s.
An attorney who has represented workers from the weapons side of the facility said he is now representing employees from the non-weapons side of the complex as well.
“A gentleman who was an IRS agent, worked in building 41 and because it had not been properly cleaned, he has what I think was Berylliosis,” said attorney Tom Thompson.
Berylliosis is caused by exposure to beryllium one of the 785 known toxins at the plant.
Beryllium can cause lung problems and experts say it can sometimes cause lung cancer.
Thompson said claims are complicated because workers need medical documentation that their illness is linked to contaminants from the facility.
The vast majority of claims on the NBC Action News list involve current and former workers, some going back to the 60s.
A handful of individuals on the list include family members of workers who believe toxins were tracked home or contractors who only visited the plant briefly.
Health statistics experts say the cases reported to NBC Action News are too small a pool to determine if the illnesses are outside normal averages.
Government officials say tens of thousands of employees have worked at the complex since it was built in the 40s.
The list of sick individuals comes from both sides of the Bannister Federal Complex.
The General Services Administration acts as landlord to government agencies that have had offices on the non-weapons side of the plant like Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS), IRS, USDA, and the Marine Corps.
The GSA says regular environmental tests show that side of the facility has no unsafe levels of toxins.
“We continue to stand by our assessments of the Bannister Federal Complex and remain committed to meeting all safety and public health standards,” said GSA spokesman Charles Cook in a statement to NBC Action News.
The U.S. Department of labor has tracked about 1,400 claims of illnesses linked to toxins on the weapons side of the facility since creating a compensation program about ten years ago.
Officials at the Kansas City Plant, which makes non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons, acknowledge toxins in the facility but say they are all controlled and pose no threat to anyone outside the plant.
There are several layers of health screening and compensation programs on the weapons side of the facility.
There is no similar program for people on the GSA side of the complex which is separated from the weapons plant by a concrete wall and a sealed door.
Click
here to report to NBC Action News your health concerns at the Bannister Federal Complex.
Click
here for a list of resources if you think you might be eligible for government screening or compensation programs to help former workers at the Kansas City Plant.
