Despite ruling, NUMEC woes endure

After a seven-year tussle with the federal government, the Department of Labor finally is cutting a $150,000 check to Skip McGuire of Parks Township for harmful exposures to radiation in the workplace.

McGuire, 77, is ailing: He had his right kidney removed, three heart attacks, lost his bladder and prostate to cancer and has had a defibrillator and a pacemaker installed.

"I'm still in one piece yet," he says.

Last year, former workers of the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. in Apollo were awarded special status with the government, entitling them to compensation for death, illness and injury caused by exposure to radiation and chemicals in the Apollo NUMEC plant, which created uranium fuel pellets for Navy nuclear reactors.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review