New rule speeds up help for some sick lab workers

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 2, 2008 | by Betsy Mason

Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory workers who became ill from on-the-job exposure to radiation will now have their compensation claims fast-tracked through the Department of Labor.

Effective today, a new rule added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act will make the claims process significantly easier for some claimants, including some who have already been denied compensation.

Workers who spent at least 250 days in an area monitored for radiation at the lab or at the lab's Site 300 near Tracy any time between 1950 and 1973, and later were diagnosed with one of 22 different cancers, will automatically qualify for a $150,000 lump- sum payment and have their medical expenses covered from the date they first filed their claim.

"Anyone who gets sick while in the service of our national interest should receive the benefits they deserve," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo. "And even more, these critical services must be delivered quickly."among the claimants, many of whom are in the throes of battling cancer while trying to prove their cases.

Of the 1,266 claims that have been filed to date by Livermore lab workers, 818 have been decided and 67 percent of those decisions have been denials.

Now some of these workers, or their surviving family members, can skip the most difficult step of determining the level of exposure. All they need is proof that they worked at the lab in an area that was monitored for radiation.

Groups of workers at two dozen Department of Energy sites across the country, including the Nevada Test Site and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have also been given this special status.

"While this designation is certainly a step in the right direction, I'm concerned that many people are being left out," said Rob Schwartz, staff attorney for lab watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs. "For instance, employees who worked in administrative areas will not be covered" by the new rule.

Workers who were at the Livermore lab after 1973 or who worked at Sandia/California or Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories will still need to complete the entire claims process, though there are currently petitions to grant more workers special, fast-track status.

Betsy Mason can be reached at 925-952-5026 or bmason@bayareanewsgroup.com.

If you go

The Department of Labor will hold information meetings about the new rule and what it means for workers at the Doubletree Hotel in Livermore at 720 Las Flores Road on April 23 at 7 p.m. and April 24 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

For more information on the compensation program or filing a claim, visit http:/www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/eeoicp/ main.htm or call the Sick Worker Resource Center at 925-606-6302 or 866-606-6302.