Following Two Shocking Reports, Schumer Demands Full Investigation Of Nuclear Workers Program

Following Two Shocking Reports, Schumer Demands Full Investigation Of Nuclear Workers Program

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today demanded a full investigation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA) by the Department of Labor Inspector General to determine whether the Department of Labor and the Administration have worked together to limit payouts to nuclear weapons workers sickened by radiation and toxic material. Both a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report and a Republican Congressional Report revealed that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Labor were working together to limit these payments. Former nuclear weapons workers at Bethlehem Steel are currently suffering from debilitating diseases, including various forms of cancer and may qualify for compensation through this program, but have not received full benefits. Workers from several other Cold War nuclear operations in Western New York have had difficulty obtaining compensation as well. Schumer has been aggressively fighting on behalf of all nuclear weapons workers in Western New York since the program was created in 2000. Schumer is asking the Department of Labor several pointed questions to determine the extent of this obstruction and is demanding the Inspector General conduct a thorough investigation.

"It is astonishing that the Department of Labor and the Administration have been in cahoots in an effort to keep Bethlehem Steel Workers and other Cold War heroes from the support they need and the compensation they deserve," Schumer said. "Many former nuclear workers became dangerously ill developing the country's nuclear weapons program, and should not have to wait another day for help. Too many have died already, some of them perhaps from exposure to radiation."

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has completed two major reports on the EEOICPA program this year, exposing many flaws and inconsistencies. The most recent, completed on December 5, 2006, was prepared due to a recent memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to the Department of Labor that raised concerns about potential efforts to improperly limit the cost of benefits paid to claimants. The memorandum also notes that the Department of Labor has identified the potential for a large expansion of EEOICPA Part B benefits through the designation of special exposure cohorts. Moreover, it also states that the Administration planned a White House-led interagency workgroup to develop options to limit growth in the costs of benefits provided by the program.

Secondly, a November 30, 2006 memo prepared by Republican staff for the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims stated "there is a continuous stream of (administration) communications… strategizing on minimizing payouts." The memo summarizes and quotes from thousands of pages of records reviewed by the subcommittee in its probe.

Despite having one of the greatest concentrations of facilities involved in nuclear weapons production-related activities in the nation, Western New York continues to be severely underserved by the EEOICPA program. Thousands of New Yorkers labored during the late 1940s and early 1950s in ultra hazardous conditions at the Department of Energy and contractor facilities, while being essentially unaware of the health risks. Workers at these facilities handled high levels of radioactive materials and were responsible for helping to create the huge nuclear arsenal that served as a deterrent to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Although government scientists knew of the dangers posed by the radiation, workers were given little or no protection and many have been diagnosed with cancer. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act (EEOICPA) was created by Congress to compensate the unsung heroes of the Cold War who were sickened as a result of their service in radiation facilities directly managed or financed by the federal government. This law was designed to compel the government to find the fastest, most humane way to speed compensation to victims.

Schumer also wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, asking that she answer direct questions on how the EEOICPA program is executed. In the personal letter, Schumer asked the following pointed questions:

1. Has the Department of Labor been asked or instructed in any way by the Administration to limit or deny compensation to former nuclear workers?

2. Of the 24,000 approved cases for compensation payment, how many of these claims have been fully paid? How many have had a delay in payment or not been fully paid?

3. How many former workers from New York State have received full compensation? How many have been denied compensation?

4. On what grounds does the Department of Labor deny claims?

5. Is the Administration using dose reconstruction programs as a way to limit or deny compensation to former nuclear workers?

"I have spoken with and received correspondence from many former works and the sons and daughters of former workers at Bethlehem Steel, and I have devoted significant efforts to fighting for the compensation they deserve," said Schumer. "They have told me heartbreaking stories of friends and loved ones dying of debilitating cancers at a young age, and they have become extremely frustrated with the seemingly endless bureaucracy. It is time that this Administration gets these heroes the compensation they deserve."

Former employees of the following businesses could be eligible for health compensation: Electro Metallurgical (Niagara Falls), Hooker Electrochemical (Niagara Falls), Carborundum Company (Niagara Falls), Lake Ontario Ordinance Works (Niagara Falls), Simonds Saw and Steel Co (Lockport), Titanium Alloys Manufacturing (Niagara Falls), Ashland Oil (Tonawanda), Bethlehem Steel (Lackawanna), Bliss and Laughlin Steel (Buffalo), Linde Air Products (Buffalo), Linde Ceramics Plant (Tonawanda), Seaway Industrial Park (Tonawanda), Utica St. Warehouse (Buffalo), the West Valley Demonstration Project (West Valley).

Senator Schumer has aggressively worked to get aid for former nuclear workers in Western New York. In an effort to compensate these workers, Congress passed legislation in 2000 that allowed them to file claims with the US Department of Labor for individual payments of $150,000 and other benefits for medical treatments. Workers who contracted radioactive cancer, beryllium disease or chronic silicosis after working at sites that performed nuclear weapons work during World War II and the Cold War were eligible. To file a claim, patients or their surviving families needed to provide proper documentation of their illness and employment history.

In November 2004, Schumer successfully secured a mandate from Congress that establishes a resource center intended to provide Western New Yorkers with the support that they need to effectively navigate the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. Senator Schumer's language established a new resource center in Western New York that would help sick nuclear workers with their compensation applications.

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=266777&&year=2006&