U.S. sailors sue Japanese utility over tsunami radiation
SAN DIEGO - Eight U.S. sailors who served on a humanitarian mission to Japan in the wake of the tsunami-triggered Fukushima nuclear reactor crisis are suing the utility that operates the power plant.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego last week against Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is owned by the Japanese government. Plaintiffs include the infant daughter of two of the sailors who was born seven months after the March 2011 disaster.
The sailors served on the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which was carrying out "Operation Tomadachi" ferrying food and water to citizens in the city of Sendai in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.
The sailors claim the Japanese government repeatedly said there was no danger to the carrier crew "all the while lying through their teeth about the reactor meltdowns" so rescuers would "rush into an unsafe area."
The U.S. Navy, the suit said, relied on information from the Japanese government, which only belatedly admitted that radiation had leaked into the atmosphere from the damaged power plant.
The suit claims the sailors were exposed to harmful levels of radiation that could result in cancer and a shorter lifespan, and they are undergoing considerable mental anguish as a result. The sailors are suing for more than $100 million in damages.
"They have physical problems. One of them is bleeding from from his rectum already. The others have problems with thyroid glands," the sailors' attorney, Paul Garner, told KGTV in San Diego.
Garner says one of the sailors now has cancer and recently had a baby with birth defects.
Some of the sailors experienced symptoms while their ship was in Bremerton, Wash., for maintenance and repairs starting in January 2012, a few months after returning from the humanitarian mission.
All of those traits are associated with radiation poisoning - but confirming that these health problems came from exposure to Fukushima nuclear reactor radiation won't be easy.
"I don't think that you can actually prove that," says San Diego State University professor and nuclear expert Murray Jennex.
Jennex says that determining radiation levels in a person, and the direct effects on that person can easily be argued.
"There is no science I know of that their lives are shortened," said Jennex. "But this is something that is way down the road. If it was an immediate exposure risk, they would have known that."
Garner and the sailors say the Japanese government knew exactly how dangerous the situation was and never told the sailor aboard the ship about the risks until it was too late.
"They put out the word that everything is fine, we got everything under control, and they lulled everybody, the world into a false sense of security," said Garner.
An email seeking response from the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s corporate office was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego last week against Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is owned by the Japanese government. Plaintiffs include the infant daughter of two of the sailors who was born seven months after the March 2011 disaster.
The sailors served on the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which was carrying out "Operation Tomadachi" ferrying food and water to citizens in the city of Sendai in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.
The sailors claim the Japanese government repeatedly said there was no danger to the carrier crew "all the while lying through their teeth about the reactor meltdowns" so rescuers would "rush into an unsafe area."
The U.S. Navy, the suit said, relied on information from the Japanese government, which only belatedly admitted that radiation had leaked into the atmosphere from the damaged power plant.
The suit claims the sailors were exposed to harmful levels of radiation that could result in cancer and a shorter lifespan, and they are undergoing considerable mental anguish as a result. The sailors are suing for more than $100 million in damages.
"They have physical problems. One of them is bleeding from from his rectum already. The others have problems with thyroid glands," the sailors' attorney, Paul Garner, told KGTV in San Diego.
Garner says one of the sailors now has cancer and recently had a baby with birth defects.
Some of the sailors experienced symptoms while their ship was in Bremerton, Wash., for maintenance and repairs starting in January 2012, a few months after returning from the humanitarian mission.
All of those traits are associated with radiation poisoning - but confirming that these health problems came from exposure to Fukushima nuclear reactor radiation won't be easy.
"I don't think that you can actually prove that," says San Diego State University professor and nuclear expert Murray Jennex.
Jennex says that determining radiation levels in a person, and the direct effects on that person can easily be argued.
"There is no science I know of that their lives are shortened," said Jennex. "But this is something that is way down the road. If it was an immediate exposure risk, they would have known that."
Garner and the sailors say the Japanese government knew exactly how dangerous the situation was and never told the sailor aboard the ship about the risks until it was too late.
"They put out the word that everything is fine, we got everything under control, and they lulled everybody, the world into a false sense of security," said Garner.
An email seeking response from the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s corporate office was not immediately returned.
Let me put it this way, Japan should have warned them and any folks going into this. Being needlessly exposed was BS on Japans part since these folks could have had protective gear and meds! Japan tried to sweep a lot of the radiation damage under the carpet and downplay it..     Â
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I hope they win this..  Japan failed to do what was right!
I hope they get exactly what they deserve, which is nothing. Â What's next? Â They get sent to Afghanistan, get shot, then sue the enemy who shot them. Â I doubt if any of these guys were forced into joining the military, so tough.
 @boomer  Right, because our soldiers are cheap, disposable and rentable. They didn't just agree to put themselves in harms way to protect our national security and accept that they might be killed in combat -- they signed up to be the unwitting toxic waste janitors for the planet. Who cares if it's our government or another, they can be lied to and exposed to any and all contaminants if that's the most convenient thing to do. Agent Orange, nuclear fallout, experimental vaccines -- it's not just the perogative of the US Army, it's open to the rest of the world, to use our soldiers like toilet paper and flush when they're finished. Foreign governments that request our help and claim to be our allies shouldn't be held accountable for lying to our military and causing serious health problems in our soldiers. Furthermore, these guys should have to figure out how to pay for their lifetime of medical problems on their own. It's not Japan's fault and it's not the American taxpayer's fault. What a bunch of jerks these ailing soldiers are for wanting anything other than a rock to crawl under and die.
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Did I sum that up pretty well?
Never heard of a tsunami causing radiation!
Why does everyone have to sue nowadays. Â You signed up for service for your country, with that come the risks of many dangers... Â suck it up, I thought you were supposed to be our strongest and bravest.. Â
 @A74R1 I disagree also. Japan lied and now its time to reap the consequences of those lie's. Those men didn't deserve to be lied to, they didn't deserve to be exposed to this.  They didn't need to be exposed to radiation by the dishonorable and cowardly way Japan took on this. I hope they win their case..Â
 @A74R1 Because sometimes it's the only way to force a government or corporation to admit that they were wrong. I do believe that the Japanese government was trying supress information about the severity of the meltdown, if it that's true do you think they should just get away with that? What sort of punishment would you suggest? There are hundreds of ridiculous liability suits wasting time and resources, but it sounds like this one might have merit. And I don't think that being exposed to a nuclear meltdown was in these guy's job descriptions.
More tragic news from Japan
Bleeding from his rectum? Maybe he was at sea just a little too long.