Full Body Burden

Iversen attends Mark’s burial service with her family. His brothers plant a pine tree in his memory. 

Dr. Carl Johnson publishes his findings on the occurrence of cancers in the area surrounding Rocky Flats. Residents show higher than average rates of cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, and brain cancer, as well as birth defects. Johnson also studies Rocky Flats employees, a disproportionate number of whom suffer from brain tumors and cancerous tumors. Two years later, the EPA states that Rocky Flats contamination may contribute to the high incidence of cancer in the area (168). 

The public scrutiny of Rocky Flats creates difficulties for all organizations with a hand in the plant’s management and oversight, whereas before, the plant created plutonium triggers with little outside interference. The Jefferson County Board of Health votes that Johnson should resign in 1981, and its head, Dr. Otto Bebber, meets Johnson for lunch to persuade him to resign. Johnson leaves his post, although certain officials support his pursuit of the truth of Rocky Flats. He goes to court to get his job back, but the judge rules against him. 

Engineer Jim Stone works intermittently at the Rocky Flats factory, beginning with its design during construction in 1952.