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Karen Silkwood

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Karen Silkwood
Poster from the Christic Institute archives.
Born
Karen Gay Silkwood

(1946-02-19)February 19, 1946
Longview, Texas, U.S.
DiedNovember 13, 1974(1974-11-13) (aged 28)
near Crescent, Oklahoma, U.S.
Cause of deathCar crash, unclear circumstances
Occupation
  • Laboratory technician
Spouse
William Meadows
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1972)​
Children3

Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American chemical technician and labor union activist known for reporting concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.

She worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Crescent, Oklahoma, making plutonium pellets. She was the first woman ever elected to the union's negotiating team at Kerr-McGee. After testifying to the Atomic Energy Commission about her safety concerns, she was found to have plutonium contamination in her body and her home. While driving to meet with a New York Times journalist and an official of her union's national office, she died in a car crash, the circumstances of which were never explained entirely.

Her family sued Kerr-McGee for the plutonium contamination that Silkwood suffered from. The company settled out of court for US$1.38 million, while not admitting liability. Her story was chronicled in Mike Nichols's 1983 Academy Award-nominated movie Silkwood in which she was portrayed by Meryl Streep.

Education and personal life

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Karen Gay Silkwood was born in 1946 in Longview, Texas, and raised in Nederland, Texas. She lived with her mother Merle, father Bill, and sisters Rose Mary and Linda.[1] In high school, Karen was a straight 'A' student and a member of the National Honor Society. Chemistry was her best subject.[2] In the fall of 1964, she enrolled at Lamar State College of Technology in Beaumont, Texas on a scholarship from the Business and Professional Women's Club.[3][4]

In 1965, Silkwood dropped out of college and eloped with William Meadows, an oil pipeline worker, with whom she had three children. After the couple filed for bankruptcy due to Meadows' excessive spending habits, and after his refusal to end an extramarital affair, Silkwood left him in 1972 and relocated to Oklahoma City where she worked briefly as a hospital clerk.[5][6][7]

Union activities

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In August 1972, Silkwood was hired as a metallography laboratory technician with the Kerr-McGee Corporation at their Cimarron River plutonium production plant near Crescent, Oklahoma.[3] She soon joined the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) local. In November 1972, she participated in a strike to protest poor working conditions. Kerr-McGee succeeded in breaking the strike by hiring people from the surrounding area to cross the picket line. The company's managers also began "working behind the scenes to entice workers to sign a petition calling for a decertification election to eliminate the union."[8]

In August 1974, Silkwood was elected to the OCAW local's three-person bargaining committee, the first woman to hold such a position at Kerr-McGee.[3] It was a critical time for the local as the decertification drive had collected enough signatures to force an election on October 16.

Silkwood's specific union duties included investigating health and safety issues. She discovered at the Cimarron plant what she considered to be numerous violations of health regulations, such as exposure of workers to contamination, faulty respiratory equipment, and improper storage of samples. She believed the lack of sufficient shower facilities was increasing the risk of employee contamination.[9] She also found evidence of missing or misplaced plutonium.[3]

On September 26, 1974, Silkwood and the two other committee members attended a meeting in Washington, D.C. with Tony Mazzocchi, OCAW's legislative director. The committee voiced their complaints about the dangerous workplace conditions and sought advice on how to win the upcoming decertification election. Mazzocchi recalled how Silkwood took him aside at one point and said, "You know, there's some other problems that I'd like to talk to you about.":

I said, "What are they?" She said, "I work in a quality-control lab, and I noticed the lab technician would use a felt pen on the X-ray to cover over that little thin line that showed a crack in the control rod welds." And she told me there was some fooling with the computer data, too. I said, "Look, Karen, if you could prove that, I think we could use it to beat the company and improve the conditions in that facility."[10]

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mazzocchi and his staffer Steve Wodka counseled that the best hope for survival of the Cimarron workers and their local was to raise awareness about Kerr-McGee's practices with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the national press.[11]

To that end, the OCAW initiated an aggressive whistleblowing campaign. They claimed that "the Kerr-McGee plant had manufactured faulty fuel rods, falsified product inspection records, and risked employee safety". The union threatened litigation.[3] During late summer 1974, Silkwood testified to the AEC about having been contaminated with plutonium, alleging that safety standards had been relaxed because of a need to increase production. She appeared at the AEC hearings along with other union members.[12] The whistleblowing effort, and the visibility it brought, helped fight off decertification. The Cimarron workers voted 80-61 in October to keep the OCAW as their bargaining agent.[13][14]

Karen Silkwood in the fall of 1974, shortly before she died

On November 5, 1974, Silkwood performed a routine self-check that showed almost 400 times the legal limit for plutonium contamination. She was decontaminated at the plant and sent home with a testing kit to collect urine and feces for further analysis. Although there was plutonium on the inner portions of the gloves which she had been using, the gloves did not have any leaks or perforations according to tests performed subsequently by Kerr-McGee personnel.[15] This suggests the contamination had come not from inside the glovebox, but from some other source.[16]: 252 

The next morning, as she left for a union meeting, Silkwood again tested positive for plutonium, although she had performed only paperwork tasks that morning. She was given a more intensive decontamination. On November 7, as she entered the plant, she was found to be dangerously contaminated, even expelling contaminated air from her lungs. A health physics team accompanied her back to her home and found plutonium traces on several surfaces, especially in the bathroom and the refrigerator. When the house was later stripped and decontaminated, some of her property had to be destroyed. Silkwood, her boyfriend Drew Stephens, and her roommate Sherri Ellis were sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory for in-depth testing to determine the extent of the contamination in their bodies.[16]: 253 

There were questions about how Silkwood became contaminated during this three-day period from November 5-7. She said the contamination in the bathroom may have occurred when she spilled her urine sample on the morning of November 7. This was consistent with the fact that the samples she collected at home had extremely high levels of contamination, while the samples collected in "fresh" jars at the plant and at Los Alamos showed much lower levels.[16]: 253 

She concluded that she had been contaminated at the plant. Kerr-McGee's management alleged that Silkwood had contaminated herself in order to harm the company's reputation. According to Richard Rashke's book The Killing of Karen Silkwood, security at the Cimarron plant was so lax, workers could easily smuggle out finished plutonium pellets.[17] Rashke wrote that the soluble type of plutonium found in Silkwood's body came from a production area which she had not accessed for four months. The pellets had since been stored in the vault of the facility.[18]: [page needed] 

Death

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By November, Silkwood believed she had assembled sufficient documentation for her claims, including company papers. She decided to go public with this evidence and contacted David Burnham, a New York Times journalist whom Tony Mazzocchi referred her to. Burnham had previously broken the Frank Serpico police corruption case and was now researching atomic energy issues.[10]

On November 13, 1974, Silkwood left a union meeting at the Hub cafe in Crescent. Another attendee at the meeting later testified that Silkwood had a binder and a packet of documents with her at the cafe. Silkwood got into her Honda Civic and drove alone for Oklahoma City, about 30 miles (48 km) away, to meet with Burnham and OCAW's Steve Wodka.[19][20][21]

Late that night, Silkwood's body was found in her smashed-up car, which had run off the road and struck a concrete culvert on the east side of State Highway 74, 0.11 miles (180 m) south of the intersection with West Industrial Road (35°51′19″N 97°35′06″W / 35.855233°N 97.584963°W / 35.855233; -97.584963). The impact from hitting the culvert caused her to be impaled by her steering wheel.[22] She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Silkwood's car contained none of the documents she had been holding in the meeting at the Hub cafe. The Oklahoma state trooper at the crash site remembers that he found one or two tablets of the sedative methaqualone (Quaalude) in the car, and he remembers finding cannabis. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol report concluded that she fell asleep at the wheel. The coroner found 0.35 milligrams of methaqualone per 100 milliliters of blood at the time of her death — an amount almost twice the recommended dosage for inducing drowsiness.

The OCAW hired a crash investigator, A. O. Pipkin, to examine the car and the scene of the accident. Based on his examination, Silkwood had not fallen asleep while driving: "The steering wheel was bent back on the sides, proving she'd been wide awake and hanging on tight as she tried to maintain control."[23] Pipkin also noted damage on the rear of the vehicle that, according to her friends and family, had not been present before. As the fatal crash was entirely a head-on, front-end collision, it didn't explain the dent in the back bumper.[24] A microscopic analysis of the rear of the car showed paint chips that could have come only from impact by another vehicle. Silkwood's family said they were unaware of collisions of any kind that Silkwood had had with the car, and that the 1974 Honda Civic she was driving was new when purchased and had no insurance claims filed against it.[25]

Some journalists have theorized that Silkwood's car was rammed from behind with the intent to cause a crash that would result in her death.[26] Skid marks from her car were present on the road, suggesting she was trying to get back onto the road after being pushed from behind.[27] OCAW officials Mazzocchi and Wodka did not believe it was premeditated murder because the odds of her hitting a concrete culvert were so remote. Instead, they suspected it was an attempt, which went tragically awry, to scare and intimidate her into stopping her whistleblowing and returning the documents.[28]

Silkwood's relatives, too, confirmed that she was taking documents with her to the meeting in Oklahoma City. Her family reported how she had received several threatening telephone calls shortly before her death, but speculation about foul play has never been substantiated.[29]

Because of concerns about contamination, the Atomic Energy Commission and the State Medical Examiner requested analysis of Silkwood's organs by the Los Alamos Tissue Analysis Program.[16]: 254–255 

Public suspicion resulted in a federal investigation of Cimarron plant security. National Public Radio reported that the investigation determined 20 to 30 kilograms (44–66 lb) of plutonium had been misplaced at the plant. The unaccounted-for nuclear material generated speculation as to its whereabouts. Richard Rashke alleged the missing plutonium may have been stolen by "a secret underground plutonium-smuggling ring" in which many government agencies, including international intelligence agencies, namely, the CIA, Britain's MI5, the Israeli Mossad, and a "shadowy group of Iranians", were involved. He claimed the U.S. government concealed many details of Silkwood's death, and was thus possibly implicated in her murder.[18]: [page needed]  Daniel Sheehan, an attorney for Silkwood's family, briefed the House Energy and Commerce Committee that some 18 kilograms of plutonium were smuggled out of Kerr-McGee's facility, and later detected by NSA aboard a chartered oil tanker sailing to Israel.

Kerr-McGee closed its nuclear fuel plants in 1975. The Department of Energy (DOE) reported the Cimarron plant as decontaminated and decommissioned in 1994.[30]

PBS Frontline produced the program, Nuclear Reaction,[31] which included aspects of the Silkwood story. Its website for the program includes a summary of details entitled "The Karen Silkwood Story",[32] as printed on November 23, 1995 in Los Alamos Science. The PBS program covered the risks of nuclear energy and raised questions about corporate accountability and responsibility.

Silkwood vs. Kerr-McGee

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Silkwood's father and her children filed a lawsuit against Kerr-McGee for negligence on behalf of her estate. The time leading up to the trial was likewise filled with controversy. According to Rashke, officials investigating Kerr-McGee's operations and the circumstances of the car crash were themselves the recipients of death threats. One of the investigators disappeared and was never located. One of the witnesses died by suicide shortly before she was to testify against Kerr-McGee about the alleged happenings at the Cimarron plant.[18]: [page needed]  Rashke wrote that the Silkwood family's legal team were followed, threatened with violence, and physically assaulted.[33]

The trial occurred in 1979 and lasted ten months, the longest trial ever up to that point in Oklahoma history. Gerry Spence was the chief attorney for the estate; the other major attorneys were Daniel Sheehan, Arthur Angel, and James Ikard. William Paul was the chief attorney for Kerr-McGee. The estate presented evidence that the autopsy showed Silkwood was contaminated with plutonium at her death. To prove the contamination was sustained at the plant, evidence was given by a series of witnesses who were former employees of the facility.

The defense relied on expert witness Dr. George Voelz, a high-ranking scientist at Los Alamos. Voelz said he believed the contamination in Silkwood's body was within legal standards. The defense later proposed that Silkwood was a troublemaker who might have poisoned herself. After the summation arguments, Judge Frank Theis told the jury, "[I]f you find that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant ... defendant Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation is liable...."[34]: Instruction 7 

The jury rendered its verdict of US$505,000 in damages and US$10,000,000 in punitive damages. On appeal in federal court, the judgment was reduced to US$5,000, the estimated value of Silkwood's losses in property at her rental house, and reversing the award of punitive damages. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court restored the original verdict. In Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. 464 US 238 (1984), the court ruled that "the NRC's exclusive authority to set safety standards did not foreclose the use of state tort remedies."[35] Although suggesting it would appeal for other reasons, Kerr-McGee settled out of court for US$1.38 million ($3.75 million in 2021 dollars), while admitting no liability.

Portrayals in media

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Karen Silkwood was portrayed on stage by actress Jehane Dyllan in the one-person play Silkwood, which Dyllan scripted along with Susan Holleran and Bobbi Ausubel. Ausubel also directed the piece, which ran April 7-12, 1981 at Theater Works, UMass-Park Square in Boston.[36]

The 1983 movie Silkwood is an account of Silkwood's life and the events resulting from her activism, based on an original screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen. Meryl Streep played the title role and was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA. Cher portrayed Karen's friend and roommate Sherri Ellis, and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Mike Nichols was nominated for Best Director. Ephron and Arlen were nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.[37]

The 2004 novel Cloud Atlas (and its 2012 film adaptation) has a section in which a female journalist is nearly murdered via car accident to prevent her from publishing a report on a conspiracy to cause a nuclear power plant catastrophe.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gallagher, Edward J. "The Life and Accidental (?) Death of Karen Silkwood". Lehigh University Digital Library.
  2. ^ Rashke 2000, p. 7.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kleiner, Diane L. "Silkwood, Karen Gay". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  4. ^ Rashke 2000, p. 8.
  5. ^ Garraty, John Arthur; Jackson, Kenneth T.; Markoe, Arnold; Markoe, Karen E. (1994). Dictionary of American Biography. Scribner's. p. 726. ISBN 978-0-684-19398-4.
  6. ^ Booth, Bibi; Mongillo, John (2001). Environmental Activists. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-313-30884-0.
  7. ^ Rashke 2000, p. 2.
  8. ^ Leopold 2007, p. 314.
  9. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. 19–23.
  10. ^ a b Leopold 2007, p. 316.
  11. ^ Leopold 2007, pp. 317–318.
  12. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. 22–23.
  13. ^ Leopold 2007, p. 321.
  14. ^ Rashke 2000, p. 32.
  15. ^ United States General Accounting Office. "RED-75-374 Federal Investigations Into Certain Health, Safety, Quality Control and Criminal Allegations at Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation" (PDF). www.gao.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d "The Karen Silkwood Story" (PDF). Los Alamos Science. 23. November 23, 1995. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  17. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. 56–62.
  18. ^ a b c Rashke, Richard (2000) [First published 1981]. The Killing of Karen Silkwood: The Story Behind the Kerr-McGee Plutonium Case (2nd ed.). ILR Press. ISBN 978-0801486678.
  19. ^ Mazzocchi, Tony (November 1999). "Karen Silkwood Remembered". Labor Party Press Online. Labor Party Press. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  20. ^ Leopold, Les (2007). The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. pp. 324–325. ISBN 978-1933392646.
  21. ^ "The Karen Silkwood Story (1946 - 1974)". United Steelworkers. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  22. ^ Leopold 2007, p. 325.
  23. ^ Leopold 2007, pp. 325–326.
  24. ^ Leopold 2007, p. 326.
  25. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. 114–115.
  26. ^ Phillips, B. J. (April 1975). "The Case of Karen Silkwood: Mysterious Death of a Nuclear Plant Worker". Ms. pp. 59–66.
  27. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. 99–101.
  28. ^ Leopold 2007, pp. 326–327.
  29. ^ Rashke 2000, p. 99.
  30. ^ Summary: USDOE Richland Operations Office (May 1, 1994). Decontamination and decommissioning of the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Plutonium Fuel Plant (Report). Washington, United States: United States Department of Energy (USDOE). doi:10.2172/10151437. OSTI 10151437.
    Full text: USDOE Richland Operations Office (May 1, 1994). "Decontamination and decommissioning of the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Plutonium Fuel Plant" (PDF). DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). Washington, United States: United States Department of Energy (USDOE). doi:10.2172/10151437. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  31. ^ "Nuclear Reaction | FRONTLINE | PBS". PBS.
  32. ^ "PBS Frontline supplementary text". PBS. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  33. ^ Rashke 2000, pp. xvii–xviii.
  34. ^ "Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 485 F. Supp. 566 (W.D. Okla. 1979)". Justia US Law. Justia. August 18, 1979. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017. (Oklahoma case)
  35. ^ "SILKWOOD v. KERR-McGEE CORP., (1984) No. 81-2159". FindLaw. Thomson Reuters. January 11, 1984. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017. (Supreme Court case)
  36. ^ Clay, Carolyn (April 14, 1981). "Anatomy of a Martyr". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  37. ^ "'Silkwood': THR's 1983 Review". Hollywood Reporter. November 22, 2014. Silkwood's death is mentioned in the Netflix documentary series Meltdown: Three Mile Island, which concerns a "whistleblower" who reports safety concerns during the Three Mile Island accident cleanup. Karen Silkwood is mentioned in the song, "We Almost Lost Detroit", on the 1977 music album, Bridges, by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson.

Further reading

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