OWCP News Release: [09/19/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa

Phone Number: (202) 693-4686
Email Address: llosa.adriano.t@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-1912-CHI

US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Hamilton, Ohio, Sept. 25 to assist nuclear weapons workers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Hamilton, Ohio, to provide former Feed Materials Production Center employees with information about a new class of employees recently added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Staff from the department’s Traveling Resource Center will be available the same day to assist individuals with filing 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 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On June 27, 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 employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors or subcontractors who worked at the FMPC in Fernald, Ohio, from Jan. 1, 1968, through Dec. 31, 1978, 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 July 27, 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, $152.7 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 1,257 FMPC claimants, while more than $8.5 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 Portsmouth Resource Center toll free at 866-363-6993. These events are open to the public, and pre-registration is not required. These event are not sponsored by the Fernald Preserve, where they will be held.

TOWN HALL MEETING
DATE/TIMES:

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT

TRAVELING RESOURCE CENTER
DATE/TIMES:

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT

LOCATION:

Fernald Preserve Visitors Center
7400 Willey Road
Hamilton, Ohio 45013

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