Docket Number: 3092-2002

EMPLOYEE: [Name Deleted]

CLAIMANT: [Name Deleted]

FILE NUMBER: [Number Deleted]

DOCKET NUMBER: 3092-2002

DECISION DATE: October 7, 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 September 30, 2003, you filed a Form EE-1, Claim for Benefits under the EEOICPA. The claim was based, in part, on the assertion that you were an employee of a Department of Energy (DOE) contractor at a DOE facility. You stated on the Form EE-1 that you were filing for colon cancer. On the Form EE-3, Employment History, you stated you were employed by Union Carbide at the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee from 1952 to 1953. The Department of Energy verified this employment as June 30, 1952 through April 20, 1953. The medical evidence established that you were diagnosed with colon cancer on August 28, 2003.

On September 2, 2004, the Jacksonville district office issued a decision recommending that you are entitled to compensation in the amount of $150,000 for colon cancer. The district office’s recommended decision also concluded that you are entitled to medical benefits effective September 30, 2003, for colon cancer.

On September 13, 2004, the Final Adjudication Branch received your written notification that you waive any and all objections to the recommended decision.

To qualify as a member of the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under section 7384l(14)(A) of the Act, the following requirements must be satisfied:

(A) The employee was so employed for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days before February 1, 1992, at a gaseous diffusion plant located in Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio, or Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and, during such employment - -

(i) was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges for exposure at the plant of the external parts of employee’s body to radiation; or

(ii) worked on a job that had exposures comparable to a job that is or was monitored through the use of dosimetry badges.

42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14)(A).

The DOE confirmed that you were monitored for radiation exposure to the external parts of the body through the use of dosimetry badge #28543. The DOE verified employment equates to 42 weeks of employment at a gaseous diffusion plant, less than the necessary 250 workdays required for membership in the SEC. However, two co-worker affiants stated that these were six-day workweeks throughout the middle of the 1950’s. The 250 workday requirement for SEC membership is satisfied by the 42 six-day workweeks found in the record. Therefore, the employee is a member of the SEC.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. You filed a Form EE-1, Claim for Benefits under the EEOICPA, on September 30, 2003.

2. The medical evidence is sufficient to establish that you were diagnosed with colon cancer on August 28, 2003.

3. Colon cancer, diagnosed at least 5 years after first exposure in covered employment, is a specified cancer under the Act and the implementing regulations. 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(17)(A), 20 C.F.R. § 30.5(dd)(5)(iii)(M).

4. You were employed at the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for six-day workweeks from June 30, 1952 through April 20, 1953. You are a covered employee as defined in the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(1).

5. You are a member of the Special Exposure Cohort as defined in the Act. 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14)(A).

6. The district office issued the recommended decision on September 2, 2004.

7. On September 13, 2004, the Final Adjudication Branch received your written notification that you waive any and all objections to the recommended decision.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

I have reviewed the record on this claim and the recommended decision issued by the district office on September 2, 2004. I find that you are a member of the Special Exposure Cohort, as that term is defined in the Act; and that your colon cancer diagnosed more than 5 years after first exposure in covered employment is a specified cancer under the Act and the implementing regulations. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384l(14)(A), 7384l(17)(A); 20 C.F.R. § 30.5(dd)(5)(iii)(M).

I find that the recommended decision is in accordance with the facts and the law in this case, and that you are entitled to $150,000 and medical benefits effective September 30, 2003, for colon cancer. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384s(a), 7384t.

Jacksonville, FL

J. Mark Nolan

Hearing Representative