US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Bolingbrook, Ill., June 7 to assist nuclear weapons workers

OWCP News Release: [06/02/2011]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder Enrique Chaurand
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659 (202) 693-4679
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov chaurand.enrique@dol.gov
Release Number: 11-0846-CHI

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying former workers of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory East that it will host two town hall meetings on June 7 in Bolingbrook, Ill., to provide information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The EEOICPA was created to assist those individuals who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of such individuals may also be eligible for benefits. Department officials will present an overview of Parts B and E of the EEOICPA, which it administers, and the department’s Paducah Resource Center staff will be available to assist individuals interested in filing a claim under the act.

Representatives from the department’s Office of the Ombudsman for the EEOICPA, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Former Worker Medical Screening Program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the ombudsman to NIOSH under the EEOICPA also will be present to answer questions.

On July 31, 2001, the Labor Department began administering Part B of the EEOICPA. Part B covers current or former workers who have been diagnosed with cancers, beryllium disease or silicosis, and whose illness was caused by exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica while working directly for the U.S. Department of Energy, its contractors or subcontractors, a designated Atomic Weapons Employer or a beryllium vendor. Part E, created by an amendment to the EEOICPA on Oct. 28, 2004, provides federal compensation and medical benefits to DOE contractors and subcontractors who worked at covered facilities and sustained an illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances.

To date, more than $2.4 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits have been paid to 20 eligible Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory claimants and more than $30 million has been paid to 280 eligible Argonne National Laboratory East claimants. For additional information about the upcoming town hall meetings or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s Paducah Resource Center toll-free at 866-534-0599. This event is open to the public, and pre-registration is not required.

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