Miners of American Indian Descent Deserve Workers Comp

Far beneath the Colorado Plateau, American Indians have labored for tens of years in the mines there. The mining process requires the use of a drill to excavate yellow, soft uranium ore from these rocks. This uranium was used in the nuclear warheads that the US deployed around the country and that eventually helped win the Cold War. Obtain further advice on altona compensation lawyer and the subject of lawyers.

Most people are unaware of the part these miners played in the Cold War or the terrible tragedy that they are suffering now. Because of the radiation present within the mines, many have either been killed, or are afflicted by cancer and similar illnesses. Many more continue to fight for their lives even as their family members and friends have already died from work related illnesses.

Dialysis treatments leave numerous scars of the arms of nearly all of the laborers. The dialysis is the only available treatment for those who suffer from kidney failure. The majority of workers blamed the drinking water that was in the mines, and traces of radioactive minerals in it have been proven scientifically.

1990 saw the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act by the Congress. This law was passed for the purpose of helping the uranium miners and many others who have been suffering from work they've done in the mines. The reason these miners are being compensated by taxpayers is that the work they did was solely to assist the American military's nuclear weapons division. More information on the topic of lawyers is located at box hill personal injury lawyers.

Under the law, each eligible uranium miner is entitled to a $100,000 compensation. In order to qualify, the miner must have one of the six different lung diseases that has been linked to exposure to radiation. While hundreds of miners have met all of the preconditions necessary to begin receiving payments, most have yet to see a single dime.

The reason for this is the compensation law itself has set up almost impossible hurdles for these Indian miners. First, the paperwork must be filled out in English. However, many of the Indian miners are illiterate in English and find the forms confusing.

Astoundingly, only 96 miners who have filed compensation claims through the Office of Navajo Uranium Workers have been approved, even though 242 miners have applied. The total number of claims filed by former uranium miners approved by the Justice Department is 1,314. But that's only half the story - 1,316 claims have been rejected.

Workers need to prove to the government the amount of time worked in the uranium mines by providing check stubs, records or other documentation as part of the application process. Those types of records are seldom kept by the miners who have been working in the mines for decades. In addition, trying to recover the documentation through the authorities has been difficult.

These uranium mines first became active sometime in 1947 on the Navajo Indian Reservation. During this period, the Navajo were glad to see an opportunity for employment. Even though the conditions were miserable and the pay was low, they were glad to work.

Another danger to be found in the mines was radon. A by-product of decaying uranium, radon is odorless, colorless radioactive gas. It is the radon exposure which experts believe causes the lung diseases that afflict the miners who have become eligible for the uranium mine compensation.

In order to facilitate the process of receiving compensation for their injuries, past miners and tribal leaders plan to petition Congress for modification of the bill in the fall. Where the problems have developed for the government is the Navajo miners who expect to be compensated just because they worked in the mines.