OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION HAS PAID 5.5 BILLION TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKERS

OVER 5.9 MILLION DOLLARS PAID to BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY (BNL) EMPLOYEES FOR JOB RELATED CANCERS AND DEATHS

According to the New York State Department of Labor website, the Office of Workers Compensation (OWC) has paid out over 5.5 Billion dollars to nuclear weapons workers since 2001. This represents 130,211 cases for 76,382 individual workers and a total of $449,232,311 in medical expenses paid.  The other $5,067,377,094 was for compensation paid for these claims.

BNL employees who have worked at the lab since 1947 and are covered either as SEC (Special Exposure Cohort) Class members or under the auspices of the EEOICPA (Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act) have to date been paid $5,901,298. This total represents 421 cases and 231 unique individual workers. $251,170 dollars was specifically paid for medical bills and $5,650,128 dollars for compensation to survivors with illness or to family members of deceased who are presumed to have died or contracted their cancers while working at Brookhaven National Laboratory anytime from 1947 to the present.


The SEC or “Cohort” Class, which applies to anyone who worked at BNL from 1947-1979 was so designated January 8, 2010.  Other persons who work or worked at BNL from 1980 to the present and who have illnesses they feel may be job related due to exposure to toxins such as beryllium, radiation or other environmental hazards, can get a free medical screening and under part B or E of the EEOICPA could get a dose reconstruction.  This may be necessary depending upon how much documentation is available to verify their workplace exposure.  Documents from 1947-1979 are difficult to obtain because of the secret nature of the nuclear weapons programs conducted at BNL and other DOE sites during that time period.

Those who qualify for EEOICPA compensation are eligible for between $150 thousand to $400 thousand dollars and medical expenses.  If the worker is deceased from one of 23 cancers, chronic beryllium disease or other illnesses covered by the act, then his immediate family may receive compensation for the loss of their loved one.

THE DOL HOLDS A TOWN MEETING REGARDING THE NEW SEC DESIGNATION

The Department of Labor, the agency responsible for all notification relating to the EEOICPA, will conduct a Town Hall meeting to assist nuclear weapons workers and all other workers at BNL from 1949 to the present,  (or their surviving family members) on Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It will be held at:

The Courtyard by Marriott
5000 Express Drive South, Ronkonkoma, N.Y.            2 and 7 pm

The Department of Labor will host two meetings to present information about the new SEC Class and to present an overview of parts B and E of the EEOICPA, according to their website.  They are also scheduled to have resource center staff available to help individuals who may need assistance in filing claims with the EEOICPA and the Office of Workers’ Compensation.