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NIOSH to reevaluate its work for EEOICPA; seeks new director for compensation office | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced that it's going to begin a major re-evaluation of its responsibilities, including the scientific and techical support, for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
NIOSH also said it would conduct a national search for a new director of the Office of Compensation Analysis and Support as the successor to Larry Elliott, who will take a new role at NIOSH as an associate director in charge of "several high-priority projects" with institute-wide activities. Stuart Hinnefeld, technical program manager, will become interim OCAS director while that search is conducted, the institute said in the announcement.
Advisory board recommends Special Exposure Cohort for Oak Ridge Hospital workers, 1950-59 | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health today recommended that Oak Ridge Hospital workers, 1950-59, be desigated a Special Exposure Cohort, NIOSH spokeswoman Shannon Bradford said.
The ruling is based on the likelihood they were exposed to chronic levels of radiation. The SEC status, if it stands, would make it easier for those workers with cancer to receive compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.
The advisory board concurred with an earlier recommendation from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and now it will be sent to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who will make a recommendation to Congress, Bradford said. If Congress doesn't act within 30 days, the secretary's recommendation stands, she said.
Board OKs expanded compensation for ill Hanford nuclear workers - Breaking News - Yahoo | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news
A compensation program for ill nuclear workers won key approval Tuesday to offer automatic $150,000 payments to potentially hundreds more Hanford workers or their survivors.
An advisory committee to the federal government meeting in New York voted unanimously to further ease compensation requirements for Hanford workers who may have developed any of a wide range of cancers due to radiation exposure on the job. Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, now is expected to recommend the eased rules, called a special exposure cohort, to Congress.
If Congress does not object, the special exposure cohort would be formed.
Under the special exposure cohort, automatic $150,000 compensation and medical coverage would be extended to any Hanford worker who was employed for at least 250 days from Oct. 1, 1943, through June 30, 1972. That's more inclusive than previous decisions to ease rules only for workers assigned to specific Hanford areas for certain of those years.
ESA News Release: U.S. Labor Department reaches $5 billion in benefits paid and 8th anniversary of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act [07/27/2009]
U.S. Labor Department reaches $5 billion in benefits paid and 8th anniversary of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry.
"I am proud to announce that the Labor Department has delivered more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to deserving workers and their families during the eight years it has administered the EEOICPA," said Shelby Hallmark, acting assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. "The department is dedicated to carrying out the vital mission of this program: getting compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers and their survivors as quickly and consistently as possible. We will continue to strengthen the adjudication process, our outreach efforts and claimant services in order to carry out the EEOICPA in a manner that is consistent with the law as enacted by Congress."
U.S. Labor Department reaches $5 billion in benefits paid and 8th anniversary of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act - 7thSpace Interactive
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry.
"I am proud to announce that the Labor Department has delivered more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to deserving workers and their families during the eight years it has administered the EEOICPA," said Shelby Hallmark, acting assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. "The department is dedicated to carrying out the vital mission of this program: getting compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers and their survivors as quickly and consistently as possible. We will continue to strengthen the adjudication process, our outreach efforts and claimant services in order to carry out the EEOICPA in a manner that is consistent with the law as enacted by Congress."
EEOICPA: 8 yrs., $5B, ongoing controversy | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
The Labor Dept. announced today it had passed the $5 billion mark in compensation to claimants under the sick nuclear workers compensation program, coinciding with the 8th anniversary of DOL's administration of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.
Despite those milestones, there continue to be complaints about the management of the program, as well as calls for legislative reform to make it easier for those made sick by the Cold War nuclear workplace to collect money and benefits.
Worker advocates have raised continuing issues regarding adminstration of the federal program and still say the Labor Dept. is throwing roadblocks at claimants. Some advocates recently had a teleconference call with Labor official Rachel Leiton, but that reportedly did not resolve any ongoing issues.
FR: List of DOE facilities covered by the EEOICPA
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended AGENCY: Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Employment Standards Administration, Labor. ACTION: Notice of revision of listing of covered Department of Energy facilities. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) is publishing a list of Department of Energy (DOE) facilities covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended (EEOICPA). This notice revises the listing of DOE facilities that was included as part of the list of covered facilities last published by DOE on August 23, 2004 (69 FR 51825) to include the determinations made by OWCP on this subject through June 23, 2009.
EEOICPA PDF FactSheet (database lists)
The Office of Former Worker Screening Program (FWP) has developed a list of records that are essential for DOE to fulfill its role under EEOICPA and FWP.
Hawk Eye: Legislation would expand coverage to former workers
New legislation introduced this year could prevent problems Paul Bell, and many other former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant workers have had over the years trying to get compensation through the EEOICPA.
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The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act was passed in 2000. While amendments have been made -- and responsibility for the program has shifted from the Department of Energy to the Department of Labor -- still fewer than a third of applicants receive compensation.
That's why the presidents of construction and metal trades unions and the University of Iowa Atomic Energy Commission Plant-Former Workers Program are supporting the Charlie Wolf Nuclear Employees Compensation Act that can help former workers get the payment they're due.
Union leaders back reform of sick worker program | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
The presidents of the Metal Trades and the Building & Construction Trades Departments of the AFL-CIO this week endorsed the Charlie Wolf Bill, which would amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act to expand the eliigibility of workers and change some procedures for compensation.
The press statement released by Ron Ault of Metal Trades and Mark Ayers of Building & Construction Trades endorsed the companion bills in the U.S. Senate and House and called for their quick consideration.
Their statement said, in part:
Do ORNL workers get a fair shake under EEOICPA? | Frank Munger's Atomic City Underground | knoxnews.com
Mack Davis, 64, a retired Oak Ridge National Laboratory worker, said he spent 11 years of his 40-year career working in the lab laundry washing the hot clothes of rad workers. He thinks that exposure was the chief culprit for his cancers.
"That laundry was hot, hot, hot," Davis said today by telephone.
"I was exposed to all of that stuff on the clothes," Davis said. "That place was really hot."
He said he ultimately developed four types of cancer, but was unable to collect under Part B of the compensation program. The findings he received indicated there was only a 42.5 percent chance that the rad exposures caused his cancer.
La Jicarita News - Senators Mark Udall and Tom Udall Sponsor Bill to Reform EEOICPA
Charlie Wolf died on January 28, 2009, more than six years after he had been diagnosed with brain cancer and more than five and a half years after doctors said he would be dead. During that period, Wolf was not only fighting for his life, he was fighting the federal government for the compensation he was entitled to as a former worker in federal nuclear weapons facilities who contracted cancer as a result of exposure to radionuclides in the work place. Just as Wolf experienced the nightmare of radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplants, he also experienced the nightmare of trying to negotiate a claim for compensation through a government bureaucracy clearly intent upon limiting its liability. The entire story of Wolf's battle with cancer and the government was graphically detailed in a July 22, 2008 Rocky Mountain News story by Laura Frank, and I urge readers to download the article and see for themselves the ordeal Wolf suffered through as a result of the government's attempts to avoid culpability. Sadly, even after providing copious documentation and successfully challenging the government's decision to deny his claim, Wolf died before receiving full compensation and benefits.
$1.4M for beryllium cases | www.azstarnet.com ®
The federal government paid a total of $1.4 million to compensate or care for victims of beryllium disease associated with a Tucson manufacturing site.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced this week that it has paid more than $100 million in benefits to 1,583 Arizona residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
La Jicarita News - National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Opposes LANL Special Exposure Cohort Petition
Longtime readers of La Jicarita News are aware that we've written numerous articles regarding the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This program, enacted by Congress in 2000, is supposed to provide financial compensation and medical benefits for workers at federal nuclear facilities who have been made ill by exposure to radiation and other toxins in the workplace, but in fact has provided benefits for only about 28 percent of claimants nationally and less than 20 percent of claimants from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Moreover, claimants have to undergo a lengthy bureaucratic process, which testimony before Congressional committees has demonstrated is often tainted by incompetency and insensitivity by government administrators. Knowing all that I was still surprised by the seeming indifference to sick workers' suffering displayed by number crunching bureaucrats from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Department of Labor (DOL), which administers EEOICPA, at the February 17-19 meeting of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH) in Albuquerque.
U.S. Pays $100M to Florida Cold War Workers with Occupation Illnesses
The U.S. Department of Labor said it has paid more than $100 million in compensation and medical benefits to Florida residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).
The act was created to assist individuals who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry. Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits. Since the implementation of the act, the Labor Department has paid 48,510 claimants more than $4.5 billion in compensation and medical benefits nationwide.
Former Vitro workers notified of exposure designation
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that all former Vitro Manufacturing workers have now been added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits.
An employee who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. The new SEC class of former employees includes all Atomic Weapons Employer employees who worked at Vitro Manufacturing in Canonsburg, Pa., from August13, 1942, through December 31, 1957, for at least 250 workdays, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within one or more other classes of employees in the SEC.
Sick Pa. workers to be compensated - Examiner.com
Former nuclear workers at a western Pennsylvania plant who are sick could receive $150,000 in compensation plus medical help under a government program.
The Department of Labor announced Thursday that Atomic Weapons Employer employees who worked at Vitro Manufacturing in Canonsburg, Pa., during a set period in the 1940s and '50s are eligible.
Under the program, former workers diagnosed with one of 22 specific cancers are presumed to have received it from working at the plant and will receive compensation. A worker's survivors are also sometimes eligible.
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Mallinckrodt workers notified of exposure designation
The U.S. Department of Labor has notified all former Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, Destrehan Street Plant workers about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified employees may also be entitled to benefits. A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the act. To date, more than $80 million in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, Destrehan Street Plant employees and more than $4.6 billion in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible claimants nationwide under the act.
The Santa Fe New Mexican: Lab workers fight for compensation
"Former and current nuclear weapons workers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been dealt a setback in their attempts to collect on a 10-year-old promise to compensate them for illnesses and deaths related to their exposure to radiation and other hazardous materials.
In a report to the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends against easing a radiation-dose determination process for potentially thousands of workers.
The agency's report said it is not necessary to grant what is called "special cohort status" to workers who were employed in certain parts of the plant between Jan. 1, 1976, and December 2005 and may have developed certain forms of cancers, making it more difficult for workers to prove they are entitled to benefits.
Hanford News: Ill nuclear worker program difficult to understand
The federal government should take steps to make a program for ill nuclear workers easier to understand and to contact more workers or their survivors who might be eligible for compensation, said an annual report to Congress.
A large percentage of the people who contact the Office of the Ombudsman for Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program "simply want assistance processing their claim," said the office in its recently released report on 2008.
Others have complaints about the limits placed on benefits to survivors if the worker has died, their treatment by the office that administers the program or about diseases they believe have been incorrectly excluded from the program.
Part E of the program offers workers at Hanford and other nuclear sites up to $250,000 for wage loss and impairment caused by exposure to toxic substances, which could include radiation, chemicals, solvents, acids and metals.
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