Wvc Stars Kelly, Laiuvara Receive Honors

Dallas School Board 
Hires Nurse's Aids 
The Dallas School Board Alleviated What One Board Member Called "a Pressing 
Need" By Authorizing The Hiring Of Two Part-time Nurse's Aids For The 
Westmoreland And Dallas Elementary Schools.

Wednesday, October 14, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1D QUICK WORDS: SENATE HOPEFUL LYNN
YEAKEL 





Trucks scatter crowd listening to Yeakel &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Democratic candidate for U.SSenator vows to help workers of a shuttered
plant get compensation for job-related ailments &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By JIM KERSTETTER &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Hazleton Bureau &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 HAZLE TWP. -- As U.S. Senate hopeful Lynn Yeakel spoke outside the former
Kawecki-Berylco plant Tuesday afternoon, a large construction truck pushed its
way through a crowd on the narrow road leading into the plant. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And then another truck came through. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And then another. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then at least two of the trucks drove back out the plant's gates,
disappeared from view, and returned several minutes later, forcing to the side
of the road the more than 30 people gathered to hear the Democratic nominee. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All the while, the rumbling trucks appeared to be empty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It appears they are trying to harass the crowd," a mystified Yeakel told
reporters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The trucks disappeared from the road after the meeting ended. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yeakel, on a campaign swing through northeastern Pennsylvania, met with
former workers and neighbors of the old beryllium plant and promised to help
the former employees get workers' compensation similar to black lung
compensation for the beryllium disease called berylliosis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Scores of former plant employees believe they have contracted berylliosis
-- a debilitating lung illness with symptoms similar to black lung disease --
from exposure to beryllium dust and are asking for help in Washington D.C. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The former plant workers believe 92 out of the plant's 1,200 workers have
died from the disease. Only three or four former plant employees or their
families have received workers' compensation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Beryllium is a metal used in nuclear reactions and was once commonly used
by the Department of Defense in nuclear testing. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency considers it to be a cancer-causing material. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This company pulled out of here and left us with nothing. They pulled out
and we didn't get medical benefits. Nothing," said Al Matusick, an employee at
the plant from its opening in 1957 until it closed in 1982. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yeakel promised to help get compensation for people suffering from
beryllium-related disease and to crack down on cleanup of sites such as the
former beryllium plant. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This should be a criminal offense," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In late July, the workers also sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter,
Yeakel's incumbent Republican opponent. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A spokeswoman for Specter said the senator will also look into helping the
workers' get compensation for the beryllium problem. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since the plant closed in 1982, it has been the target of cleanup effort of
the state Department of Environmental Resources and the Cabot Corporation, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 which now owns the site. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trucks aren't the only thing harassing critics of the former beryllium
plant. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A neighbor and a former employee of the former beryllium plant have
received threatening phone calls after their vocal criticism of the operation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matusick, the former employee, took two water samples from the Hazle Creek
-- also called the Black Creek by some local residents -- in attempt to prove
the creek is contaminated with beryllium. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The same day a story about the tests ran in The Times Leader, Matusick
received an anonymous phone call on his answering machine from a man who
warned him to "back off..." and referred to him with an expletive. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cathy Schwear, who lives down the road from the plant and complained about
trucks traveling to and from the site in the middle of the night at a township
meeting, received two phone calls. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About a week ago, a male caller asked her if she is the woman who can't
sleep in Stockton, which is the section of Hazle Township in which she lives,
Schwear said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When she said yes, the caller replied: "If you can't sleep, maybe I can put
you to sleep permanently." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On a second call received Tuesday morning, another male voice told her:
"You have a big mouth and big mouths get in trouble." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Photo by Pete G. Wilcox &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 CONTROVERSIAL SITE - Democratic U.S. senatorial candidate Lynn Yealel talks
with Don Whittig, spokesman for the environmental group Citizens Against
Hazardous and Nuclear Waste, outside a closed Hazle Township plant Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 STORY CUT HERE &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Schwear said she tried to dial *69 on her phone, which should have allowed
her to ring the phone of the anonymous caller. But her attempt failed,
indicating the call came from either outside the 717 area code or from a car
phone. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She said she was unfazed by the calls. "Small-minded people don't upset
me," Schwear said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
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Trucks Scatter Crowd Listening To Yeakel The Democratic Candidate For U.s.