OWCP News Release: [06/08/2011]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Enrique Chaurand
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (202) 693-4679
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov chaurand.enrique@dol.gov
Release Number: 11-0866-BOS
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying former atomic weapons employees who worked at the facility owned by the Norton Co., or a subsequent owner, in Worcester, Mass., about a new class of employees added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to workers who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified workers 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 EEOICPA. On April 29, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: all atomic weapons employees who worked in any building or area at the facility owned by the Norton Co., an Atomic Weapons Employer, or a subsequent owner, in Worcester from Jan. 1, 1958, through Oct. 10, 1962, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC. This designation became effective on May 29. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition as determined and introduced by HHS.
To date, more than $12.3 million in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 158 eligible Norton Co. claimants under the EEOICPA, while more than $7 billion in compensation and medical benefits has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the new SEC or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s New York Resource Center toll-free at 800-941-3943.
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