OWCP News Release: [03/06/2012]
Contact Name: Egan Reich Diana Petterson

Phone Number: (202) 693-4960 (202) 693-4681
Email Address: reich.egan.2@dol.gov petterson.diana@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-0419-SEA

US Department of Labor’s Idaho Falls Resource Center moves to new location
Center assists nuclear weapons workers and their families with filing EEOICPA claims

WASHINGTON — The Idaho Falls Resource Center of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation has moved. It is now located at 1820 E. 17th St., Exchange Plaza, Suite 250, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83404. The division has 11 resource centers nationwide to assist workers and their families with applying for benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.

The Idaho Falls Resource Center assists individuals living in Idaho, Montana, Utah, North Dakota and South Dakota. The staff helps workers and their families complete all necessary EEOICPA claim forms and transmits these documents on their behalf to the division’s four district offices for filing. The staff also has reached out to local unions, medical providers and workers at the Idaho National Laboratory in an effort to inform as many potential claimants about the EEOICPA as possible.

On July 31, 2001, the division began administering Part B of the EEOICPA. Part B covers current and former workers diagnosed with cancer, beryllium disease or silicosis caused by exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica while working directly for the U.S. Department of Energy, that department’s contractors or subcontractors, a designated Atomic Weapons Employer or a beryllium vendor. Individuals or their survivors found eligible under Part B may receive a lump sum compensation payment of $150,000 and medical expenses for their covered conditions. Part E, created by an amendment to the EEOICPA on Oct. 28, 2004, and also administered by the Labor Department, provides federal compensation and medical benefits to employees of DOE contractors and subcontractors who worked at covered facilities during a covered time period and sustained an illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances.

It is the Labor Department’s goal to disseminate information concerning EEOICPA benefits to potentially eligible claimants across the country. To date, the department has delivered more than $116 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits to 1,008 eligible EEOICPA claimants living in Idaho, and more than $7.8 billion nationwide. For additional information about the EEOICPA or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the Idaho Falls Resource Center toll-free at 800-861-8608 or visit the Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation’s website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy.

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