Mother suing Ohio former nuclear plant for the death of daughter; nuclear plant announces comeback
A former Ohio nuclear power plant has allegedly been linked to illnesses and cancers. And now, even despite multiple lawsuits, it’s coming back.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor uploaded an email to its website by legal expert Stuart H. Smith, which emphasized that two years prior in 2017, federal regulators from the U.S. Department of Energy tested the neighborhood around a 20th century uranium plant in Pike County, Ohio, and “made a startling discovery in the air near a middle school attended by local children.” The middle school was called Zahn’s Corner Middle School.
The report says that traces of neptunium-237, an extremely radioactive particle, were found, but that “the U.S. government said absolutely nothing.”
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That is, until researchers from Northern Arizona University found enriched uranium at the school, and Pike County officials closed down the school in 2019. According to this public report, people living near the plant have been “disturbed by several cases of childhood cancer, including three deaths.”
Now, an Ohio mother is suing this Pike County nuclear plant, Centrus Energy, for the wrongful death of her 19-year-old daughter. Julia Dunham is alleging that the radiation from the nuclear plant was responsible for her daughter, Cheyenne’s, death. She’s one of many that have filed lawsuits claiming that this uranium plant is responsible for illnesses and deaths, and many Pike County residents claim they’re still getting sick from the uranium enrichment on the nuclear site.
In this lawsuit, Dunham emphasizes that they lived near the plant until Cheyenne was a teenager. Cheyenne actually attended Zahn’s Corner Middle School for three years. She played in the water in the neighborhood and ate food grown in gardens near the nuclear plant, according to her mother.
When she turned 16, Cheyenne’s health issues arose. According to the lawsuit, her legs allegedly turned blue, and doctors found blood clots in her legs and lungs. She was diagnosed with a rare condition called GATA Deficiently, and in February 2015, she became very ill after a second bone marrow transplant. Julia Dunham maintains her belief, partnered with the multiple studies mentioned above, that their proximity to the nuclear plant is responsible for her daughter’s death. This case is ongoing.
Even with those findings, Centrus Energy announced they’d be expanding the former uranium plant and bringing 300 new jobs in uranium enrichment.
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