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Compensation cases continue for radioactively contaminated Hanford victims

The amount of the settlement has not been made public. In July, the thyroid disease plaintiffs who settled received an average of $5,700 apiece, for a total payment of just under $800,000.

Many of the remaining plaintiffs suffer from cancers that they claim were caused by radioactive contamination of the Columbia River. …..

Another Partial Settlement in Epic Nuclear Contamination Case, BLT The
Blog of Legal Times, 7 Dec 11 The Hanford logjam is starting to break. According to court records, 383 plaintiffs who suffer from thyroid disease have agreed to settle their claims against the government that radiation from the now-shuttered Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State made them sick.

The settlement brings the number of plaintiffs remaining to less than
1,000 in a case that’s been pending in Spokane, Wash., federal court
for 21 years. The deal comes after 139 thyroid disease plaintiffs
settled in July.

As reported by The National Law Journal earlier this year, the Hanford
plant in southeastern Washington state produced most of the material
for the United States’ arsenal of nuclear bombs, including the one
dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. It also released huge amounts of
radiation, sometimes intentionally, primarily between 1944 and 1950.
The Department of Energy indemnified the government contractors, E.I.
du Pont de Nemours and Co. and General Electric Co., that ran the
plant, and has spent about $60 million in legal bills defending them.
On the plaintiffs side, lawyers have shelled out about $10 million in
expenses…..
The amount of the settlement has not been made public. In July, the
thyroid disease plaintiffs who settled received an average of $5,700
apiece, for a total payment of just under $800,000.

Many of the remaining plaintiffs suffer from cancers that they claim
were caused by radioactive contamination of the Columbia River. …..
egaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/12/another-partial-settlement-in-epic-nuclear-contamination-case.html

December 8, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA