OWCP News Release: [11/01/2012]
Contact Name: Adriano Llosa
Phone Number: (202) 693-4686
Email Address: llosa.adriano.t@dol.gov
Release Number: 12-2190-ATL
US Department of Labor to host Traveling Resource Center in Clarksville, Tenn., Nov. 8 to assist nuclear weapons workers
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host a Traveling Resource Center Thursday, Nov. 8, in Clarksville, Tenn., to provide former employees of the Clarksville Modification Center at Fort Campbell with information about a new class of employees recently added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
Stationary resource centers are based in 11 locations nationwide and provide in-person and telephone-based assistance to serve individuals regardless of where they live. The department’s Traveling Resource Center takes these services on the road to assist workers in the claim-filing process. Resource center staff and representatives from the Jacksonville District Office of the department’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation will be available to assist individuals with existing claims as well as 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 Clarksville Modification Center at Fort Campbell in Clarksville from Aug. 1, 1949, through Dec. 31, 1967, 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, $5.5 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 53 Clarksville Modification Center claimants, while more than $8.6 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 Oak Ridge Resource Center toll-free at 866-481-0411. This event is open to the public, and pre-registration is not required.
| TRAVELING RESOURCE | Thursday, Nov. 8 |
| LOCATION: | Country Inn & Suites |
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