Docket Number: 25528-2004

 

 

EMPLOYEE: [Name Deleted]

CLAIMANT: [Name Deleted]

FILE NUMBER: [Number Deleted]

DOCKET NUMBER: 25528-2004

DECISION DATE: September 30, 2004

NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION

This is the decision of the Final Adjudication Branch concerning your claim for compensation under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 7384 et seq. (EEOICPA or the Act). For the reasons set forth below, your claim is accepted.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On March 15, 2002, you filed a Form EE-2, Claim for Survivor’s Benefits under the EEOICPA. The claim was based, in part, on the assertion that [Employee] (hereafter known as “the employee”) was an employee of a Department of Energy (DOE) contractor at a DOE facility. You stated on the Form EE-2 that you were filing for the employee’s lung cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, other lung condition, and renal disease.[1] Sufficient medical evidence was submitted to establish the claimed conditions of lung cancer and bladder cancer.

On the Form EE-3, Employment History, you stated the employee was employed as a maintenance superintendent by Dupont at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina from 1951 to an ending date in the 1980's. The Department of Energy verified this employment as March 12, 1951 to December 31, 1974.

To determine the probability of whether the employee sustained a cancer in the performance of duty, the district office referred your application package to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for radiation dose reconstruction. 20 C.F.R. § 30.115. On March 22, 2004, you signed Form OCAS-1, indicating that you had reviewed the NIOSH Draft Report of Dose Reconstruction and agreed that it identified all of the relevant information you provided to NIOSH. The district office received the final NIOSH Report of Dose Reconstruction on March 31, 2004.

Pursuant to the implementing NIOSH regulations, the district office used the information provided in this report to determine that there was a 52.50% probability that the employee’s lung and bladder cancers were caused by radiation exposure at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. 42 C.F.R. § 81.20. The Final Adjudication Branch independently analyzed the information in the NIOSH report, confirming the 52.50% probability.

On September 15, 2004, the district office issued a recommended decision finding that the employee’s lung and bladder cancers were at least as likely as not caused by his employment at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility and concluding that you are entitled to compensation in the amount of $150,000. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384n, 7384s.

On September 23, 2004, the Final Adjudication Branch received written notification that you waive any and all objections to the recommended decision.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1) You filed a Form EE-2, Claim for Survivor’s Benefits, on March 15, 2002.

2) The claimed conditions of lung cancer and bladder cancer is supported by the medical evidence.

3) The employee was employed at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina for the period of March 12, 1951 to December 31, 1974. The employee is a covered employee as defined in § 7384l(1) of the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(1).

4) In proof of your survivorship, you submitted your birth certificate and a copy of the employee’s death certificate and your mother’s death certificate. Therefore, you have established that you are a survivor as defined by § 30.5(ee) of the implementing regulations. 20 C.F.R. § 30.5(ee).

5) The district office issued a recommended decision on September 15, 2004.

6) The dose reconstruction estimates were performed in accordance with § 7384n(d) of the Act and § 82.10 of the implementing NIOSH regulations. 42 U.S.C. § 7384n(d), 42 C.F.R. § 82.10.

7) The probability of causation, found to be 52.50%, was completed in accordance with § 7384n(c)(3) of the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7384n(c)(3).

8) The employee’s lung cancer and bladder cancer were at least as likely as not caused by his employment at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility, within the meaning of § 7384n of the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7384n.

9) On September 23, 2004, the Final Adjudication Branch received your written notification that you waive any and all objections to the recommended decision.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The undersigned has reviewed the facts and the recommended decision issued by the district office on September 15, 2004, and finds that the employee’s lung cancer and bladder cancer were at least as likely as not caused by his employment at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility, within the meaning of § 7384n of the Act; and that you are the eligible surviving beneficiary of the employee as defined under § 7384s(e)(1)(A) of the Act and § 30.501(a) of the implementing regulations. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384n, 7384s(e)(1)(A), 20 C.F.R. § 30.501(a). The undersigned hereby affirms the award of $150,000, in accordance with § 7384s(a) of the Act and §§ 30.500 and 30.501 of the implementing regulations. 42 U.S.C. § 7384s(a), 20 C.F.R. §§ 30.500, 30.501.

Jacksonville, FL

James Bibeault

Hearing Representative