LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Test and Training Range is the largest in North America. It starts at the base of Nellis Air force Base and occupies close to three million acres of land and it's where our military forces practice realistic air and ground missions.
But former Department of Defense workers say their time at the range and their exposure during top secret drills has caused lifelong health struggles for them and their families. Now they're working with lawmakers to get help.
At Born and Raise Bar in North Las Vegas, it was a reunion of sorts as men and women with the nation's highest security clearances met to speak up about the effect they say their time at the range had on them.
Dave Crete is spearheading the effort with his group called "The Invisible Enemy", which refers to the dust he and his fellow range workers breathed in during drills at the Nevada test and training range.
"I left the range in 1987. I got out of the Air Force in 1989. When I got out, there was no cell phones, no emails, no Facebook," Crete said. "But now, we have those things. We started finding one another on Facebook and had a reunion at my house."
The reunion came with a shocking discovery. Six of the eight men all had lipomas, or fatty tumors, and other health complications.
"Those lipomas in the regular population have an occurrence of one in 1,000 people and here, six guys in my backyard all had theme," Crete said. "So many of our guys die [at] 50, 60 years old, riddled with cancers and illnesses. Like me, I have scarring on my lungs from breathing in radioactive dust."
Crete said he started researching and found parts of the three million acre range, which starts at the foothills of Nellis Air Force Base and stretches past Tonopah, were contaminated.
"Tonopah test range is contaminated with plutonium. They know it's the soil. It's the air we breath. It's the water the food is cooked in," Crete said. "They knew this in 1975. In 1979, they built the base I was at."
Randy Groves is a board member with "The Invisible Enemy". He said he has also suffered long-term health effects following his time at the range. He said he, along with other workers, have been denied their benefits, which is why they reached out to lawmakers.
"Time's running out for a lot of people. We need it done yesterday," Groves said. "It should have been done back in 2000 when President Clinton signed the bill. We were included in that bill and at the last minute, the Department of Defense pulled us out."
The bill has already been drafted but now Crete and Groves are fundraising to take it further.
"I’ll win. I know how politics works," Crete said. "I know these guys' story. The people in Congress cannot beat that story. In politics, they talk about a narrative. I will take this narrative to any excuse they have and they will have to do what’s right."
Crete said they hope to get the bill passed this fall.
A fundraising effort this past week raised over $8,000. If you would like to help and donate to the cause head to www.theinvisibleenemy.org
