NIOSH Dose Reconstruction 

Project Meeting 

On Nevada Test Site Profile 

Final Minutes 1 of 3 09/20/04 

ORAUT-2004-0069 

Date: 

August 9, 2004 

Meeting with: 

Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters 

Attendees: 

Dan Dyrdahl Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters 

Marc J. Furman Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters 

Diane L. Case Department of Labor 

Sandie Medina NTS Medical Surveillance Project Office 

NIOSH and ORAU Team Representatives: 

Stuart Hinnefeld – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)/Office of 

Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS) 

William Murray – Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) 

Gene M. Rollins – Nevada Test Site (NTS) Site Profile Team Leader 

Mark Lewis – ATL International Inc. 

Dawn Catalano – ATL International Inc. 

Proceedings 

The Team, along with Ms. Medina and Ms. Case, arrived at the union office at approximately 

1:45 p.m. to meet with several leadership members of the Southwest Regional Council of 

Carpenters. However, a scheduling conflict had arisen. Mr. Dan Dyrdahl informed Mr. Lewis 

that he was the only scheduled participant available to meet. 

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Dyrdahl told the Team that he had investigated ways to 

notify potential claimants about the Compensation Program and found that he was not able to 

produce a written record of which workers were dispatched to the Test Site. He explained that 

the records had not been entered into a database until recent years, and that old, hardcopy orders 

were never added. For this reason, he could not be sure who should review the Site Profile. 

Mr. Hinnefeld asked about general experiences on the site, and Mr. Dyrdahl answered that the 

carpenters only worked in the construction phase so their knowledge of the site was limited. He 

said that the carpenters did not have a role in the reclamation, and at that point, the miners were 

sent in. He added that of the four years he had spent working in the tunnels, they were always 

newly mined. The above-ground flats were also of concern in regard to radioactive particles in 

the dust that covered the area. Mr. Dyrdahl stated that, although workers were always badged 

because it was a condition of employment, the readings were consistently zeros. He added that 

the badges were often collected in a bucket at the entrance of the E Tunnel by management 

before workers went in. 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction 

Project Meeting 

On Nevada Test Site Profile 

Final Minutes 2 of 3 09/20/04 

ORAUT-2004-0069 

Mr. Hinnefeld asked Ms. Medina if it would be possible to obtain summary information from 

interviews that she had held with workers as part of the NTS Medical Surveillance Project. She 

replied that the interviews were conducted under full confidentiality. She did not think it would 

be possible to provide the information and still protect the privacy of the respondents, even if the 

identifiers were removed. 

Ms. Medina explained that she had been employed by the Site from 1970 to 1995, and worked at 

Area 12 where they performed the underground tests. She provided administrative services for 

all tunnels, including personnel and monitoring records for employees assigned to them. She had 

been in the tunnels once or twice a month in executing her duties during those years. When she 

inquired about the records, she discovered they had all been destroyed. In November 1996, she 

attempted to obtain the records, and was sent to Washington, DC, to get an order from the 

Department of Energy (DOE) before the records would be released. By February 1997, she was 

informed that the records that the twenty-five years of records had been removed and buried 

somewhere on the property. She said the person who was directed to do so is still working with 

Bechtel and the person gave her this information in strict confidence. 

Ms. Medina discussed the dosimeter reports she had seen during her years of service. She said 

that, although the readings were typically zeros, the workers would be pulled off the job for days 

and interrogated about what their work involved. This is the reason she believes security matters 

would be an issue in public discussions of the Site Profile. Although miners, pipefitters, and 

trades workers all had more potential for exposure, she said that in her experience these workers 

were reluctant to speak out in a group setting. She mentioned that she understood that the Iowa 

Army Ammunition Plant had recently participated in a workshop-type meeting with a focus 

group format that she believed would be effective with NTS workers. 

Mr. Rollins mentioned that Bechtel was very responsive in generating dose records, but Ms. 

Medina said that was not the case for medical surveillance records. She explained that the forms 

are completed by the medical surveillance workers and then they are forwarded to Boston, MA, 

where they are entered into a database without any personal information. Mr. Hinnefeld 

commented that access to those valuable personal accounts would be very helpful. 

Mr. Lewis inquired about any organization of retired people that might be a useful contact for 

review and input on the Site Profile. Mr. Dyrdahl replied that a small retiree group meets 

regularly along with the crafts union members. He also mentioned a regional newsletter that 

could be used to get the word out. 

Mr. Marc Furman, President of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, joined the group 

at about this time. Mr. Lewis explained the Outreach Program and the original intent of this 

meeting. Mr. Furman said that his understanding was that the Compensation Program was not 

funded, explaining that he had been contacted by attorneys from INEEL and Hanford who were 

researching medical records. He said that they were attempting to locate medical records for 

claims filed under the Program, but no records of exposure could be found. This gave him the 

impression that filing a claim is a convoluted process with little chance of success. Mr. 

Hinnefeld explained NIOSH’s and ORAU’s role in dose reconstruction in cases such as this 

when DOE records are inadequate. Mr. Lewis added that the Program compensates recipients at 

$150,000 with lifetime medical coverage for the disease. 
NIOSH Dose Reconstruction 

Project Meeting 

On Nevada Test Site Profile 

Final Minutes 3 of 3 09/20/04 

ORAUT-2004-0069 

 Mr. Furman asked how the Carpenters Council could help and if there was a specific timeline 

during which the Team needed assistance. Mr. Hinnefeld replied that the dose reconstructions 

are on-going. Ms. Medina pointed out that the medical surveillance program only has records 

back to 1992. Mr. Furman suggested that since the Carpenters International Headquarters is in 

Las Vegas, the Team might contact them with information about the Program. He thought it 

might be difficult to conduct a successful outreach on a local level since the members relocate 

often. He also provided contact information for the managing editor, Mr. Doug Puppel, of the 

Carpenter’s International trade magazine that is also based in Las Vegas. Mr. Furman suggested 

that we decide how to craft an announcement that would have the potential to reach a circulation 

of more than 500,000. He added that, although there are more than 7,000 members of the 

Carpenter’s union in southern Nevada, it is a very migratory population, with 75% having moved 

in and out of the area within the last decade. Nonetheless, most retirees and all current members 

receive the publication. 

In addition to the potential to reach thousands through the magazine notice, Mr. Furman further 

offered to include Ms. Medina’s informational brochure describing the medical screening 

program in pension checks that are sent to more than 1,620 retirees and survivors. Mr. Furman 

thought that it was likely that the brochures could be printed free of charge, considering the 

message and the cause that it would serve. He added that the database used for check 

distribution is probably the best available one for carpenters even though it is possibly 

incomplete. 

Mr. Hinnefeld expressed gratitude on behalf of the team for the very helpful information and 

assistance that Mr. Dyrdahl and Mr. Furman generously provided. The Team departed at 

approximately 3:45 p.m. 

Attachments: 

• Sign-in Sheet