Dr. Silver Speaks at National Day of Remembrance
Laboratory work at Los Alamos
On October 25, Dr. Ken Silver, Associate Professor of Environmental Health, spoke at the 10th National Day of Remembrance ceremony in Espaola, New Mexico at the invitation of Cold War Patriots, an advocacy group. The annual event commemorates the sacrifices made by atomic workers whose health was damaged by radiation, beryllium, silica, and other job exposures in the Department of Energy complex during the Cold War era.
Prior to joining the ETSU faculty, Silver worked closely with former workers and families at Los Alamos National Laboratory to campaign for passage and implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA) of 2000, and its 2004 “Part E” amendments. The advocacy work was an outgrowth of his dissertation work at Boston University School of Public Health.
To the question “How will you be remembered?” Silver stated: “[F]or your discipline and sacrifices… For fully exercising your rights as free Americans … For keeping the door open to federal benefits for in-home care.” Further, citing the federal law’s claimant friendly legal standard for disease causation, he asserted “The EEOIC program is beginning to raise the expectations of all American workers for how people made ill at work should be treated: with dignity and compassion.”
Silver read from a letter co-authored by Harold Archuleta, a former plutonium worker in attendance, addressed to a New Mexico congressman in 1994, as an example of the exercise of the First Amendment right to petition for redress of grievances. He also cited examples of nuclear workers advocating by exercising the freedoms of speech, association, and assembly, along with the contributions of “free and independent trade unions.”
A congressional resolution for the National Day of Remembrance in 2018 was co-sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Tom Udall (D-NM). Both are seen as strong advocates on Capitol Hill for nuclear workers.
Senator Udall spoke at the Espaola event, drawing continuity with the role that his late father, former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, played in winning a federal compensation law for uranium miners. He cited ongoing efforts to extend federal coverage to “downwinders” in the era of atomic testing.
Senator Udall also noted that he put forward Dr. Silver’s name to serve on the Advisory Board for Toxic Substances and Worker Health to advise the Department of Labor on implementation of Part E. “Before EEOPA was even enacted he was investigating the illnesses nuclear workers from Los Alamos … were having,” Udall said. “Not only did he bring his scientific expertise to bear. He helped rally support for Congress to pass EEOICPA…I am grateful for his efforts over the years fighting the good fight.”
Archuleta-Montoya 1994 letter to Congressman Bill Richardson