Upward of 200 people gathered Monday at a Moose Hall in Hamburg to complain to federal officials about the illnesses they or their loved ones suffered after working at a Bethlehem Steel mill in Lackawanna that rolled uranium used in making some of the nation’s early nuclear weapons.
The workers are asking the federal government to expand eligibility for a program that can bring compensation of up to $150,000 to victims of radiation-related cancers or their families.
The program already covers workers at the plant from 1948 to 1952, but those who worked there later contend they were exposed to residual radiation because the plant was never cleaned properly.
“There were a lot of very angry people there,” said Ed Trella, 76, a Bethlehem retiree and cancer survivor from Hamburg who attended the meeting.
“One person was in tears recounting the family history and how ill they were. There were an awful lot of people there with a history of cancer.”
The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees chapter from the plant is asking federal officials to expand eligibility to those who worked at the plant as late as 1976.
Lewis Webber, the chapter president, said he was pleased with how Monday’s meeting had gone.
“We gave them a lot of information about what had happened,” as retirees and their survivors told their stories, Webber said. “I think it was a very positive meeting for us.”
Some of the people who attended the meeting are planning to prepare affidavits detailing their experiences and how they believe the broom-and-shovel cleanup the plant received was not enough to remove radioactive dust from the rafters and equipment in the mill.
Webber is collecting those affidavits.
Webber moderated much of the meeting, with two top officials of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health at his side to listen and take notes.
Stuart Hinnefeld, director of the agency’s Division of Compensation Analysis and Support, attended, as did Lew Wade, senior science adviser at the agency.
“Overall, it was a really valuable opportunity for us in terms of getting to know what happened at the plant and the kinds of work they did,” said Christina M. Spring, a spokeswoman for the agency.
The federal officials made no commitments about expanding eligibility for the compensation program.
However, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, who joined Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, both D-N.Y., in requesting the meeting, said he was pleased with how the Hamburg session turned out.
“The idea was to give these people the chance to tell their stories,” said Higgins, who added that he didn’t expect the agency to announce its decision on the eligibility expansion immediately.
“This is a process that’s really just beginning,” Higgins said.

email: jzremski@buffnews.com