Grain Dust Blamed For Rare Disease

A Superior Court in Kennewick this summer ruled that a grain elevator operator’s uncommon lung problems were likely related to his work.

The case has caught the attention of grain growers and grain elevator operators throughout the region because it points to possible safety hazards within the business.

“Anything that suggests that we are operating in an unsafe environment is naturally of concern to us as employees and as employers,” said Jonathan Schlueter of the Pacific Northwest Grain and Feed Association in Portland. The association maintains this case is one of a kind.

Carl Shook, who worked for Connell Grain Growers Inc., filed a claim with the state Department of Labor and Industries in 1993 stating that exposure to grain dust and mold while working at a grain elevator led to his lung disease.

The rare illness, called pulmonary fibrosis, proved fatal. Shook died in 1994. He was in his mid-40s. Meanwhile, his claim was first approved by the department in 1994 and later rejected, after his employer asked the department to reconsider the case.

“It is likely there was some dispute as to what caused the illness,” said Steve Valandra, spokesman for Labor and Industries.

One manager at Connell Grain Growers said Shook’s illness was unheard of in the grain industry and may have been a pre-existing condition. He added that the growers group doesn’t think grain dust had anything to do with Shook’s illness.

Shook had worked as a grain elevator operator for Connell for about 16 years. In the summer of 1992, on the job he was exposed to an uncommon moldy grain dust. In the spring of 1993, he was forced to leave because of his lung condition.

A Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals decided that Shook’s disease likely was not the result of exposure to the dust at the grain elevators and that his family was not entitled to compensation.

Shook’s widow, Lydia, and her lawyer, Kolleen Ledgerwood, requested a jury trial in Benton County Superior Court to appeal the decision.

“They’re not very often overturned,” Ledgerwood said. “Talking to the bailiffs, (court) reporters and attorneys, probably about one in 10 are overturned.”

The challenge was linking pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that has uncertain causes, with Shook’s work at the grain elevator. The defense argued that there was no way to determine what caused the illness.

“Their main thrust was that there were no specific medical tests or findings that specifically said his disease was caused by the grain dust,” Ledgerwood said.

Still the jury ruled that on a “more probable than not” basis the pulmonary fibrosis was caused by the grain dust, she said. Shook’s widow was awarded the pension and compensation for medical bills.

Attorney Ledgerwood doesn’t normally handle job benefits cases, and probably won’t take another.

“It’s the last one I’ll ever do,” she said. “This one just kept going on.”

The grain elevator and others in the grain growing industry still question the decision.

“This case goes contrary to all other science and studies,” Schlueter said. “There is still no correlation or positive link between grain dust and respiratory disease, particularly pulmonary fibrosis.”

Since 1992, only 13 claims for grain dust inhalation have been filed with Labor and Industries in the state. “That would indicate it’s not a prevalent type of claim,” said department spokesman Valendra.

To prevent respiratory problems, most grain elevators encourage or require workers to wear dust masks when handling grains.

, DataTimes