OWCP News Release: [04/23/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa Egan Reich

Phone Number: (202) 693-4686 (202) 693-4960
Email Address: llosa.adriano.t@dol.gov reich.egan.2@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-0758-NEW

US Department of Labor to host traveling resource center in Amherst, NY, on April 25 to assist nuclear weapons workers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a traveling resource center on Wednesday, April 25, in Amherst, N.Y., to provide former employees of the Linde Ceramics Plant with information concerning a new class of employees recently added to the special exposure cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Representatives from the department’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs’ Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Cleveland District Office and New York Resource Center will be present to answer questions, provide status updates and assist individuals interested in filing new claims under the EEOICPA.

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 SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 21 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On Feb. 2, 2012, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: all Atomic Weapons Employees who worked in any area at the Linde Ceramics Plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., from Nov. 1, 1947, through Dec. 31, 1953, 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 Linde Ceramics Plant SEC designation became effective on March 3, 2012. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition as determined and introduced by HHS.

To date, $34.5 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 423 eligible Linde Ceramics claimants, while more than $7.9 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the upcoming traveling resource center visit or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department’s New York Resource Center toll-free at 800-941-3943. This event is open to the public, and pre-registration is not required.

TRAVELING RESOURCE CENTER
DATE & TIMES:

April 25
8 a.m.-5 p.m. EDT

LOCATION:

The Buffalo Niagara Marriott
1340 Millersport Highway
Amherst, N.Y. 14221

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