US Department of Labor notifies former Feed Materials Production Center employees of inclusion in new EEOICPA Special Exposure Cohort

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying former employees of the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, about a new class of employees added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to workers who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of qualified workers also may be entitled to benefits.

A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On June 27, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC: all employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked at the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald from Jan. 1, 1968, through Dec. 31, 1978, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC. This designation became effective on July 27. The Labor Department's role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definition as determined and introduced by HHS.

To date, $150.5 million in EEOICPA compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 1,243 Feed Materials Production Center claimants, while more than $8.3 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the new SEC or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the department's Portsmouth Resource Center toll-free at 866-363-6993.