Fukushima And The Navy: Sailors Sue Japan Nuclear Plant Owner, Saying Disaster Made Them Sick

[bananas]

Source: Huffington Post

Within weeks of setting off a geiger counter and scrubbing three layers of skin off his hands and arms, former Navy quartermaster Maurice Enis recalled being pressured to sign away U.S. government liability for any future health problems.

<snip>

On Monday, the two-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, Enis joined a lawsuit with more than 100 other service members who participated in the rescue mission and who have since developed medical issues they contend are related to radioactive fallout from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Rather than targeting the U.S. government, the federal lawsuit names plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. the defendant.

<snip>

Among the lawsuit plaintiffs is Enis' girlfriend, Jaime Plym, who also served as a quartermaster on the aircraft carrier, a position that involves guiding the ship and spending significant time on deck. The couple had been looking forward to leaving the military and starting a family. Now, Enis said, they don't know if children will be an option due to health problems they've both developed since signing away government liability. They've both been honorably discharged from the military and don't know how they will pay for medical treatment.

<snip>

He described at the press conference retrieving the American flag that had flown atop the carrier to give to the people of Japan as a ceremonial gesture. The wind, he recalled, caused the flag to flap around his body as he brought it down by rope. Only later did he realize the flag and the rope were probably highly contaminated with radiation.

After folding the flag, he went out to eat with his buddy. The two joked about growing extra fingers and toes, Enis said. Talk of a radiation leak had begun spreading onboard, despite being downplayed by officials. On a whim, the friends decided to get checked for radiation. His friend tested clean, but the geiger went crazy on Enis' hands.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/fukushima-navy-health-problems_n_2855529.html

[bananas]

1. WBAI-FM has a 4-minute audio news report

You can listen with flash or download the mp3, it's only about 4 minutes

http://wbai.org/articles.php?headline=U.S.%20Sailors%20Suffered%20Radiation%20Exposure%20After%20Fukushima%20Disaster

U.S. Sailors Suffered Radiation Exposure After Fukushima Disaster
- New York City 03/11/2013 by LInda Perry (WBAI)

US Navy Quartermasters Maurice Enis and Jaime Plym received high doses of radiation while serving aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, on the coast of Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. WBAI’s Linda Perry has the story.

http://wbai.org/audio/FukuSailors.mp3

[Kolesar]

7. Seamen were not told about the triple meltdown and any radiation while they were in the cloud

They were told a week and a half later.
It may have been a quadruple meltdown. I lost track.

[cstanleytech]

2. Question is will it be thrown out because at the time they were operating as naval

personal under orders from our government to go there and provide assistance?

[bananas]

3. CBS News interviewed them last night (video)

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57573501/navy-vets-say-fukushima-meltdown-made-them-sick/

March 10, 2013 8:56 PM

Navy vets say Fukushima meltdown made them sick

(CBS News) NEW YORK - U.S. Navy veterans Jaime Plym and Maurice Enis are part of a growing group of sailors who blame the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown for making them sick.

<snip>

"We had already been there rendering aid and giving supplies and stuff for maybe a couple days before we even heard something about a nuclear power plant," Plym said. "Then, we were like, 'Oh, that put a new spin on everything.'"

<snip>

"I get my boots checked. There's nothing wrong. I get my hands checked, and the Geiger meter just goes crazy," Enis said. "They told everybody to get back, get away from me. That just made me even more nervous and more scared."

<snip>

"I got a lump that popped up between my eyes, another lump in my jaw, and another lump on my thigh," Enis said,

<snip>

[mbperrin]

4. If the nuclear plant owners were decent people, they'd volunteer to pay.

But I've already noted that they are part of the nuclear industry, so that nixes anything that decent people would do.

When will we stop using the filthiest, most dangerous, longest-lasting contamination, most subsidized, most expensive way to boil water ever invented, and start using two brain cells by using wind and solar?

I know. I can dream, though. Unlike these young folks, whose lives are over. FFS, we didn't even take care of the 9/11 first responders, and that happened in THIS country.

[woodsprite]

8. So many times I wish I could "like" a reply as on FB.

This is one of them.

[flamingdem]

5. Did you catch the end of the presser when he said that everyone on board was terrified?

He really opened up there for a bit revealing that they knew they were vulnerable and keeping their mouths shut.

It's horrible to be a guinea pig and I hope they win a huge judgement

[SCVDem]

6. Why would God bless America?

How we treat our citizens is beyond reproach.

Greatest country on Earth my ass!