OWCP News Release: [08/15/2012]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-1652-DAL
US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Albuquerque, NM, Aug. 22 to assist nuclear weapons workers
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings Aug. 22 in Albuquerque, N.M., to provide former Sandia National Laboratories employees with information about a new class of employees recently added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Staff from the department’s Traveling Resource Center will be available the same day to assist individuals with filing claims under the EEOICPA.
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 May 11, 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 of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors and subcontractors who worked in any area at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque from Jan. 1, 1963, through Dec. 31, 1994, 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 June 10. 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, $84.3 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 762 Sandia National Laboratories claimants, while more than $8.4 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the upcoming town hall meetings 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
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