US Labor Department to host Traveling Resource Center in Ames, Iowa, on Dec. 7 to assist nuclear weapons workers

OWCP News Release: [11/30/2010]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Michael Volpe
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (202) 693-3984
Release Number: 10-1665-KAN

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a Traveling Resource Center on Dec. 7 in Ames, Iowa, to provide information about a new class of former Ames Laboratory employees recently added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act’s Special Exposure Cohort. 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 Special Exposure Cohort class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On Oct. 6, 2010, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort: all employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors and subcontractors who worked in any area of the Department of Energy facility at the Ames Laboratory from Jan. 1, 1955, through Dec. 31, 1960, for at least 250 workdays, occurring either solely under this employment, or in combination with workdays within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort. This designation became effective on Nov. 5, 2010. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new Special Exposure Cohort class definition as determined and introduced by HHS.

To date, more than $29.8 million in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to more than 270 eligible Ames Laboratory claimants under the EEOICPA, while more than $6.4 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the upcoming Traveling Resource Center or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s Denver Resource Center toll-free at 866-540-4977. This event is open to the public and pre-registration is not required.

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