Department of Energy Updates List of Sites Covered Under Employee Occupational Illness Program

8/5/2003

From: Dolline Hatchett of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-0608

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an updated list of facilities covered under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA). The list has been published in the Federal Register and a searchable database is available through the Internet at http://www.eh.doe.gov/advocacy.

The EEOICPA program was established to provide compensation benefits to DOE atomic weapons workers who developed work-related illnesses from exposure to radiation, beryllium and silica. The Department of Labor (DOL) administers the federal benefit program, which provides a lump sum benefit of $150,000 to DOE workers or their survivors. DOE administers the EEOICPA Subtitle D program, which provides workers and their survivors with assistance in filing for State workers' compensation benefits.

The eligibility criteria for this program include employment at a "covered facility" as defined in the EEOICPA statute. The legislation was passed in late 2000 and the program was launched in July 2001. The first covered facility list was published in January 2001 and updates have been published twice yearly since then.

The EEOICPA covered facility list is a work in progress. Through research on government and corporate archives, as well as through input from members of the public, the list is continually reviewed and revised accordingly. The latest update includes the following changes:

-- Adds Ore Buying Stations at Crooks Gap, Wyo.; Edgemont, S.C., Globe, Ariz.; Grants, N.M.; Marysbale, Utah; Moab, Utah; Monticello, Utah; White Canyon, Utah; Riverton, Wyo.; and Shiprock, N.M.

-- Adds the following Energy Department facilities: Green Sludge Plant, Uraven, Colo.; Uranium Mill in Durango, Colo.; Uranium Mill in Monticello, Utah; and Tonopah Test Range in Tonopah, Nev.

-- Deletes the following private companies: Wash-Rite, Indianapolis, Ind.; Spencer Chemical Company, Kansas City, Mo.

Program information and claim forms are available at the EEOICPA website. There is also a toll-free information line about the program at 877-447-9756.