OWCP News Release: [06/29/2010]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Michael Volpe
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (202) 693-3984
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov volpe.michael@dol.gov
Release Number: 10-0898-NAT
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying all individuals who worked at the Canoga Avenue Facility in Los Angeles County, Calif., between 1955 and 1960 about a new class of employees added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The act 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 May 14, 2010, 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 at the Canoga Avenue Facility in Los Angeles County, Calif., from Jan. 1, 1955, to Dec. 31, 1960, 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 13, 2010. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definitions as determined and introduced by the Department of Health and Human Services.
To date, more than $5.8 billion in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to eligible claimants nationwide under the EEOICPA. For additional information about the new SEC, or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the Labor Department’s California Resource Center toll-free at 866-606-6302.
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