It is better to light one candle than to cry out against the darkness. This page has been accessed times since Nov. 15, 1997. About 200 ORR workers and nearby residents have been ill.
Few citizens contest that the workers are ill.
The debate is over the probable cause. Because the cause or causes have not been found by the usual medical system including some involvement by occupational physicians, many citizens feel that the ill workers should be studied in a clinically oriented, research environment bringing in the assistance of the appropriate research medical professionals. Until this occurs there will be continued, acrimonious debate over possible causes. Within this context, the Nashville Tennessean during the last several months has published many articles describing Oak Ridge, TN as a pollution-ridden city inhabited by nothing but ill residents subject to the insidious effects of radioactivity and other incinerator emissions such as PCBs and heavy metals. They accuse the DOE of being callous and uncaring.