SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 · Last updated 1:44 p.m. PT
Senate OKs measure to aid weapons workers
WASHINGTON -- The Senate approved a plan Wednesday to have the government, not federal contractors, compensate Cold War-era nuclear weapons workers sickened from exposure to toxic substances while on the job.
The amendment to the Senate defense bill also would transfer the program to the Labor Department. Lawmakers had complained that the Energy Department, in its administration of the $100 million program, has paid out only $140,000 in claims over the past four years.
"It became clear that the program has not been working as intended and this measure will help correct the situation," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Energy Department now helps present and former workers at its weapons plants file claims for lost wages and medical expenses under state compensation programs, but relies on contractors who operated the plants to pay them.
Some of those contractors are no longer in business. Others have purchased worker's compensation insurance from private companies. The government has no power to compel those insurers to pay claims.
Under the Senate plan, approved by a voice vote, the government would pay the claims once it has evidence a worker's illness was job-related. Payments would be based on compensation laws in states where claimants worked.
Most of the nearly 25,000 claims the Energy Department has received are from people who worked at weapons-making facilities in Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.
"Many of these workers are dying and should not have to wait even longer for the Department of Energy to get its act together to process and pay the valid claims in a timely manner," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.
The House-passed defense bill makes smaller changes to the program, such as raising fees paid to medical experts who review claims, but keeps it in the Energy Department.
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On the Net:
Energy Department Program: http://www.eh.doe.gov/advocacy/prog-stats/index.html
Labor Department Program: http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/eeoicp/main.htm
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