News Release: US Department of Labor notifies former nuclear weapons workers of Dayton Project in Ohio of potential eligibility for compensation and medical benefits [04/04/2012]

OWCP News Release: [04/04/2012]
Contact Name: Mary Brandenberger Egan Reich
Phone Number: (202) 693-4651 (202) 693-4960
Email Address: brandenberger.mary@dol.gov reich.egan.2@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-0616-CHI

US Department of Labor notifies former nuclear weapons workers of Dayton Project in Ohio of potential eligibility for compensation and medical benefits

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying former Dayton Project workers employed at Units I and III in Dayton, Ohio, as well as Unit IV in Oakwood, Ohio, that these facilities now meet the definition of a covered U.S. Department of Energy facility for the purposes of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The Labor Department’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation administers the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified workers also may be entitled to benefits.

Former Dayton Project employees may be eligible for EEOICPA benefits if they worked at the facility from 1943 through 1950 and were diagnosed with a covered illness. The Labor Department urges all potentially eligible workers and their survivors to contact its Portsmouth Resource Center in Ohio at 866-363-6993 or visit the Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation’s website at http://www.dol.gov/owcp/energy for more information.

On July 31, 2001, the department 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 DOE, 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 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.

In support of the Labor Department’s implementation of the EEOICPA, the DOE maintains a list of covered facilities, which is periodically updated and published in the Federal Register. The DOE also maintains a searchable covered facility database, which contains additional information pertaining to each of the facilities, including years of covered activity and an overview of the type of work performed. The database can be accessed online at http://www.hss.doe.gov/healthsafety/fwsp/advocacy/faclist/findfacility.cfm.

It is the Department of Labor’s goal to disseminate information concerning EEOICPA benefits to potentially eligible claimants across the country. To aid in this effort, the Labor Department maintains 11 resource centers nationwide to provide in-person and telephone-based assistance to individuals regardless of where they live. To date, the department has paid more than $646.2 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits to eligible individuals living in Ohio and more than $7.9 billion nationwide.

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