US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Las Vegas on June 15 and 16 to assist nuclear weapons workers

OWCP News Release: [06/02/2010]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Michael Volpe
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (202) 693-3984
Release Number: 10-0751-SAN

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will visit Las Vegas, Nev., on June 15 and 16 to provide information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Through town hall meetings, officials will present details about a new class of former Nevada Test Site employees recently added to the EEOICPA’s Special Exposure Cohort, as well as provide an overview of the program. The department’s Las Vegas Resource Center staff also will be available at the town hall meetings for extended periods of time to help individuals interested in filing claims under the EEOICPA.

“The Labor Department is dedicated to informing the public about all the new SEC classes introduced into the EEOICPA by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” said Rachel P. Leiton, director of the Labor Department’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation, which administers the EEOICPA. “The town hall meetings in Las Vegas will allow us the opportunity to personally answer questions about the new Nevada Test Site SEC class and assist individuals in receiving the benefits that are available to them under the EEOICPA.”

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 5, 2010, the secretary of health and human services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: all employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Nevada Test Site from Jan. 1, 1963, through Dec. 31, 1992, 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 5, 2010. As the Department of Health and Human Services determines and introduces new SEC classes into the EEOICPA claims process, the Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition.

To date, more than $246 million in compensation and medical bills have been paid to 2,220 eligible Nevada Test Site claimants under the EEOICPA, while more than $5.7 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 Las Vegas Resource Center toll-free at 866-697-0841. This event is open to the public, and pre-registration is not required.

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