OWCP News Release: [10/16/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686
Email Address: llosa.adriano.t@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-2078-SEA
US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Pasco, Wash., Oct. 23 to assist nuclear weapons workers
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Pasco to provide former Hanford Engineer Works 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 Hanford Resource Center will be available the same day to assist individuals with existing claims and 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 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On Aug. 23, 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 their contractors or subcontractors who worked at the Hanford Engineer Works in Richland, Wash., from July 1, 1972, through Dec. 31, 1983, 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 Sept. 22, 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, $772.9 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 7,779 Hanford Engineer Works 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 Hanford Resource Center toll-free at 888-654-0014. The meetings are open to the public, and pre-registration is not required. These meetings are not sponsored by the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598, where they will be held.
| TOWN HALL MEETING | Tuesday, Oct. 23, 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. PDT |
| EXTENDED RESOURCE CENTER | Tuesday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. PDT |
| LOCATION: | Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 598 |
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