OWCP News Release: [07/28/2011]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Elizabeth Todd

Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (972) 850-4710
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov todd.elizabeth@dol.gov
Release Number: 11-1132-DAL

US Department of Labor to host Traveling Resource Center in Galveston, Texas, on Aug. 3 to assist former nuclear weapons workers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a Traveling Resource Center on Aug. 3 in Galveston, Texas, to provide information about a new class of former Texas City Chemicals Inc. employees recently added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act’s Special Exposure Cohort. The Denver district director of the Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation also will be presenting information concerning the new SEC during the Traveling Resource Center visit. Stationary resource centers are based in 11 locations nationwide and provide in-person and telephone-based assistance to serve individuals regardless of where they live. The department’s Traveling Resource Center takes these services on the road to assist workers in the claim-filing process.

The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. 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 Jan. 6, 2011, 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 employees who worked at Texas City Chemicals Inc., an atomic weapons employer, from Oct. 5, 1953, through Sept. 30, 1955, 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 Feb. 5, 2011. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition as determined and introduced by HHS.

For additional information about the upcoming Traveling Resource Center or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s Espanola Resource Center toll-free at 866-272-3622. This event is open to the public and pre-registration is not required.

TRAVELING RESOURCE
DATE/TIMES:

Wednesday, Aug. 3
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT

PRESENTATION TIMES:

10 a.m. and 2 p.m. CDT

LOCATION:

Hilton Galveston Island Resort
5400 Seawall Boulevard
Galveston, Texas 77551

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