Bob Lewis came to Wyoming because the best jobs around in the 1950’s were in uranium. While he was working at Susquehanna Western Uranium Mill, he was befriended by Robert Haddenham.
Years after Bob had moved on to another mining operation, the Susquehanna Mill was closing. Robert Haddenham was one of the last remaining employees when the order came down to destroy the workers’ files. Haddenham knew these files contained the health and radiation exposure records of those who had worked at the facility. He also knew that many of these employees had progressive lung problems with many doctor visits. Instead of burning the files, Haddenham took them home.
Haddenham used this evidence to pursue a lawsuit on behalf of all these workers. This case took many years to resolve but after Robert Haddenham had succumbed to his own lung contamination, the settlement came for the former employees.
Bob Lewis was still healthy when he received his part of this settlement but began to suffer with lung disease typical of the other workers shortly thereafter. He praised Robert Haddenham’s brave action many times during his final years.
As Bob Lewis became symptomatic, he was also able to avail himself to other help with his medical problems.
In the midst of a nuclear arsenal build up in the Cold War with Russia, little attention was paid to the health effects of this effort on its workers. By the 1980’s these long-term consequences had become evident. In 1990 the US Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to aid individuals adversely affected through their work in developing weapons for the Cold War arsenal. This program provides compensation to eligible workers or their survivors, who developed certain cancers and other serious diseases as a result of their radiation exposure.
This Act was amended in 2000 to create the Radiation Exposure Screening & Education Program (RESEP). Clinics created by this amendment help individuals by providing FREE screening for diseases related to radiation exposure, referrals for patients needing further diagnostic or treatment procedures and help with documenting claims.
The clinic that serves Wyoming is run by the National Jewish Hospital of Denver, CO. If you worked for 1 year before 1972 as a uranium miner, mill worker or transporter, you may be eligible for FREE screenings. For more information call 1.877.255.5864
