CDC AND NIOSH PROVIDE MEANS OF COMPENSATION TO EMPLOYEES  EXPOSED TO BNL RADIATION  1947-1979 

Living employees who are ill and relatives of deceased employees of Brookhaven National Laboratory who were exposed to unknown levels of radiation from 1947 -1979 and died of certain cancers can now turn to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health  (NIOSH) for help with compensation.

Since 2000, any person who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratories or their contractors or subcontractors from 1980 to the present, by law may be compensated for radiation exposure.  Now people who formerly were not covered for cancers caused by their exposures, because they were caused during years when the documents were classified, will also be able to apply for compensation.

People who are eligible for inclusion in the SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT (SEC) Class, which took effect on January 9, 2010 are living employees of Brookhaven National Laboratory or their contractors or subcontractors, working during a specified time period who can show they are suffering from specific forms of cancer.  Spouses, parents, children, grandchildren and grandparents of deceased employees, who can show that their relative died of one of the qualifying cancers may also be eligible.

SEC Class members have been so designated because it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy, the radiation dose that the class received and there is reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered the health of the members of the class.

In addition to having worked  at least 250 aggregate hours from January 1, 1947 through December 31, 1979) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island in order to qualify for compensation, a covered employee must have at least one of the following types of cancer:

-Bone Cancer

-Renal Cancer

-Leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia) provided the onset of the disease was at least two years after the first exposure

-Lung Cancer (other than in-situ lung cancer that is discovered during or after a post-mortem exam)

The following diseases, provided onset was at least five years after the first exposure:

-Multiple myeloma

-Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's Disease)

-Primary Cancer of the:

-Bile Ducts

-Brain

-Breast (female)

-Breast (male)

-Colon

-Esophagus

-Gall bladder

-Liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated)

-Ovary

-Pancreas

-Pharynx

-Salivary Gland

-Small intestine

-Stomach

-Thyroid

-Urinary bladder

The Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for the administration of the ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION  Program  (EEOIC), created in the year 2000.  The notification to the claimants of their options after a class has been designated also falls under their purview.

According to information supplied by Shannon Bradford, Health Communications Specialist for NIOSH, Office of Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS);  the EEOIC was originally developed after Congress determined the following:

        Since WWII, Federal nuclear activities have been explicitly recognized under federal law as activities that are ultra-hazardous. Nuclear weapons production and testing have involved unique dangers, including potential catastrophic nuclear accidents that private insurance carriers have not covered and recurring exposures to radioactive substances and beryllium, even in small amounts  can cause medical harm.

        Since the inception of the nuclear weapons program and for several decades afterwards, a large number of nuclear weapons workers at sites of the Department of Energy and at sites of vendors who supplied the Cold War effort were put at risk without their knowledge and consent for reasons that, documents reveal, were driven by fears of adverse publicity, liability and employee demands for hazardous duty pay.

        Many previously secret records have documented unmonitored exposures to radiation and beryllium and continuing problems at these sites across the Nation, at which the DOE and its predecessor agencies have been, since WWII, self-regulating with respect to nuclear safety and occupational safety and health.

        No other hazardous Federal activity has been permitted to be carried out under such sweeping powers of self regulation.

        The policy of the Department of Energy has been to litigate occupational illness claims, which has deterred workers from filing worker's compensation claims and has imposed major financial burdens for such employees who have sought compensation.  Contractors of the Department have been held harmless and the employees have been denied worker's compensation for occupational disease.

         Over the past twenty years, more than two dozen scientific findings have emerged that indicate that certain of such employees are experiencing increased risks of dying from cancer and non-malignant diseases.  Several of the studies have also established a correlation between excess diseases and exposure to radiation and beryllium.

  

          While linking exposure to occupational hazards with the development of occupational disease is sometimes difficult, scientific evidence supports the conclusion that occupational exposure to dust particles or vapor of beryllium can cause beryllium sensitivity and chronic beryllium disease.  Furthermore, studies indicate that 98 percent of radiation-induced cancers within the nuclear weapons complex have occurred at dose levels below existing maximum safe thresholds.

       ...State worker's compensation programs do not provide a uniform means of ensuring adequate compensation for the types of occupational illnesses and diseases that relate to the employees at those sites.

            To ensure fairness and equity, the civilian men and women who, over the past 50 years, have performed duties uniquely related to the nuclear weapons production and testing programs of the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies should have efficient, uniform and adequate compensation for beryllium-related health conditions and radiation-related health conditions.

           On April 12, 2000, the Secretary of Energy announced that the Administration intended to seek compensation for individuals with a broad range of work-related illnesses throughout the Department of Energy's nuclear weapon's complex.

                                                                  DOE Findings: sense of Congress  (2000)

According to the specifics of the program:

Compensation and benefits are to be provided to covered employees, or if the employee is deceased, family members shall receive compensation for the disability or death of that employee in the amount of $100,000 to 175,000 dollars relative to different compensation schedules and medical benefits for the employee for that employees occupational illness.

In the situation where a family member is deceased; the spouse, children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents of the deceased, depending on the families' circumstances, will be eligible to apply for such payments.

Persons should note that with acceptance of the payment of compensation, it will be considered full satisfaction of all claims of on or behalf of that individual against the United States, a Department of Energy contractor or subcontractor, beryllium vendor or atomic weapons employers or others.   If an individual chooses to file a tort case he would not be eligible for compensation under the provisions of an Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in 2002.   There are also considerations relating to workman's compensation payments for the same covered illness.

NIOSH is the federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.  A result of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the NIOSH and its' more familiar Department of Labor agency known as  OSHA, were created with the primary goals of providing safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by providing research, information, education and training in the field of occupational safety.  

Until October 28, 2012, according to provisions of the act,  there is an Office of Ombudsman in place to provide information on available benefits and procedures applicable to those benefits. No later than February 15 each year, the ombudsman shall submit to Congress a report on activities under this part.

Denise Brock is the Ombudsman to NIOSH under EEOICPA.  Ms. Brock will directly assist petitioners

in compiling materials, information and documentation needed to file an SEC petition and also will advocate for workers and help them file petitions when necessary.  You may contact Ms. Brock by calling toll free at 1-888-272-7430.

For further information regarding survivor benefits provided in EEOICPA click on the link:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/sec/brookhaven/brookpet.pdf
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