EEOICPA Compensation Assistance for Rocky Flats Workers and Survivors
Have you, your parent, grandparent or friend become ill after working at Rocky Flats in Golden, Colorado, a facility which manufactured, tested and processed plutonium and other radioactive and otherwise toxic materials used in the manufacture of atomic weapons? If so, then you could possibly qualify for EEOICPA compensation
The United States government has determined that certain workers who worked at Rocky Flats were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation and that their exposures caused them to be stricken with cancer, COPD, Chronic Beryllium Disease as well as other illnesses and conditions.
For a free evaluation of your eligibility to receive compensation under the EEOICPA program based on your specific circumstances, please call EEOICPA Attorney Hugh Stephens at Stephens & Stephens, LLP at 1 (855) EEOICPA [1 (855) 336-4272], or email hugh@eeoicpa.us or hstephens@stephensstephens.com. You can also fill out the form to the right of this page. We try to respond as quickly as possible and we make an effort to respond immediately, even after hours. Below you will find additional information about the program generally and about the Rocky Flats facility in particular.
The Rocky Flats Facility Operations (From the Department of Health and Human Services)
Rocky Flats is considered an eligible EEOICPA Department of Energy (DOE) Facility from 1951-2006 and is located in Golden, Colorado. Rocky Flats was built in 1951 as a plutonium and uranium component manufacturing center. From 1952 to 1989, the site’s primary mission was to fabricate the “pit” that contains the heavy metals and serves as the trigger device for nuclear warheads. Rocky Flats was also responsible for recycling plutonium from scrap and plutonium retrieved from retired nuclear warheads. The final products of this recycling included components and assemblies manufactured from uranium, plutonium, beryllium, stainless steel, and other metals. Production activities included metalworking, component fabrication and assembly, chemical recovery and purification of plutonium, and associated quality control functions. Research and development in the fields of chemistry, physics, metallurgy, materials technology, nuclear safety, and mechanical engineering were also conducted at the site.
In 1989, many of the site’s nuclear component production functions were suspended after a safety review temporarily shut down plutonium operations. Following an extensive review, which included considerable independent oversight, a few buildings were authorized by the Secretary of Energy to resume limited plutonium operations: to stabilize plutonium oxide and repackage plutonium for safe storage. In 1989, as a result of the environmental contamination caused by production activities at the site, Rocky Flats was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List. In January 1992, nuclear component production was terminated and the site’s primary mission changed from nuclear weapons production to environmental cleanup and restoration.
Throughout the course of its operations, the potential for beryllium exposure existed at this site, due to beryllium use, residual contamination, and decontamination activities.
Contractors included Kaiser-Hill Company (1995-present); EG&G Rocky Flats, Inc. (1989-1995); Rockwell International (1975-1989); Dow Chemical (1951-1975).
For an interesting look at the Rocky Flats site, we commend you to Kristen Iversen’s book:
Full Body Burden: Growing Up In the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats.
The EEOICPA Program Generally and the Special Exposure Cohort Sites
In 2000, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was passed by Congress to provide compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers who worked in atomic weapons programs. Certain survivors of these employees are also eligible for benefits.
Workers who worked at least 250 days during the qualifying time period, listed below, and who contracted one of 22 radiogenic cancers including: lung, bone, kidney, breast, colon, and leukemia, are entitled to $150,000 and can also qualify for an additional $250,000 from the program which is operated by the United States Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor also issues a medical treatment card to all qualifying employees that cover all treatment arising out of the covered condition and provides benefits that far exceed those offered by Medicare and even covers 24 hour nursing care that allows certain workers to avoid nursing homes and live at home even after they become seriously ill.
EEOICPA Compensation Assitance
So if you or a loved one became ill after working at a nuclear facility, even if that loved one died years ago, call the attorneys at Stephens & Stephens, LLP as soon as possible.
This is not a lawsuit but a type of federal workers compensation provided by the government through the Department of Labor.
The attorneys at Stephens & Stephens, LLP have handled hundreds of these EEOICPA claims from across the country and numerous from the Rocky Flats facility in particular and can assist you as you work through the claims filing process.
So whether you or a family member worked on Long Island at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), in Washington State on the Hanford reservation, in Colorado at the Rocky Flats facility, at the Iowa National Laboratory (INL), at the Nevada Test Site, or in Buffalo, New York at the Bethlehem Steel plant, Stephens & Stephens can assist you with your claim.
While there is no filing deadline, the legislation, like all federal programs, is vulnerable to budget cuts. Certain benefits are forfeited if the claim is not processed prior to the worker’s death and the claim process can be time-consuming. At the same time, some claims can be paid in four months or less, and within weeks or even days if the claimant is terminally ill. Historic medical and employment evidence can be difficult to obtain as medical providers and employers destroy old records. So don’t wait.
Counsel fees are regulated by statute and the fees associated with an initial claim are limited to 2% of the lump sum compensation received by the worker or surviving family member. If an objection to a recommended decision is necessary, the permissible fee increases to 10%. These counsel fees are payable out of the compensation paid to the claimant by the Department of Labor after the compensation has been paid to the worker or claimant.
Facilities Covered by EEOICA Compensation
There are 382 covered facilities. Below is a partial list of the facilities and the relevant Special Exposure Cohort time periods established under the program. If you fall outside these specific time periods, do not be discouraged, claims can be paid even for claims outside the time periods below:
Alaska
Amchitka Island Nuclear Explosion Site, 1974 and earlier. Amchitka Island
California
Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, 1955-1964, Santa Susana
Canoga Avenue Facility, 1955-1960, Los Angeles County
Downey Facility, 1948-1955, Los Angeles County
General Atomics, 1960-1969, La Jolla
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1942-1961, Berkeley
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1950-1973, Livermore
Colorado
Grand Junction Operations Office, 1943-1975, Grand Junction
Rocky Flats Plant, 1952-1983, Golden
Connecticut
Combustion Engineering, 1965-1972, Windsor
Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory (CANEL), 1958-1965, Middletown
De Soto Avenue Facility, 1959-1964, Los Angeles County
Illinois
Allied Chemical Corporation, 1959-1976, Metropolis
Blockson Chemical Company, 1951-1960, Joliet
Dow Chemical Company, 1957-1960, Madison
Metallurgical Laboratory, 1942-1946, Chicago
Iowa
Iowa Ordnance Plant, 1949-1974, Burlington
Ames Laboratory, 1942-1970, Ames
Kansas
Spencer Chemical Co., Jayhawks Works, 1956-1961, Pittsburgh
Kentucky
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, before February 1, 1992, Padukah
Marshall Islands
Pacific Proving Grounds, 1946-1962, Marshall Islands
Maryland
W.R. Grace and Company, 1956-1958, Curtis Bay
Massachusetts
Hood Building, 1946-1963, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Hood Building only, 1946-1963, Cambridge
Metals and Controls Corp., 1952-1967, Attleboro
Norton Co., 1945-1962, Worcester
Nuclear Metals, Inc., 1958-1979, West Concord
Ventron Corporation, 1942-1948, Beverly
Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, 1952-1961, Winchester
Michigan
Revere Copper and Brass, 1943-1954, Detroit
Missouri
Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, Destrehan Street Plant, 1942-1958, St. Louis
St. Louis Airport Storage Site (SLAPS), 1947-1971, St. Louis
Tyson Valley Powder Farm, 1946-1948, St. Louis
Nevada
Nevada Test Site (NTS), 1951-1992, Mercury
New Jersey
Kellex/Pierpont, 1943-1953, Jersey City
Standard Oil Development Co. of NJ, 1942-1945, Linden
Westinghouse Electric Corp. – New Jersey, 1942-1949, Bloomfield
New Mexico
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), 1943-1975, Los Alamos
Sandia National Laboratories, 1949-1994, Albuquerque
New York
Bethlehem Steel Company, 1949-1952, Lackawanna
Brookhaven National Laboratory, 1947-1993, Upton
Electro Metallurgical, 1942-1947, Niagara Falls
Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW), 1944-1953, Niagara Falls
Linde Ceramics Plant, 1942-1969, Tonawanda
SAM Laboratories, Columbia University, 1942-1947, New York City
Simonds Saw and Steel Co., 1948-1957, Lockport
University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project, 1943-1971, Rochester
Ohio
Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC), 1951-1983, Fernald
General Electric Co., 1961-1970, Evendale
Harshaw Chemical Company, 1942-1949, Cleveland
Horizons, Inc., 1952-1956, Cleveland
Monsanto Chemical Company, 1943-1949, Dayton
Mound Plant, 1949-1980, Miamisburg/Dayton
Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor, 1966-1969, Piqua
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, before February 1, 1992, Piketon
Oregon
Wah Chang, 1971-1972, Albany
Pennsylvania
Nuclear Materials & Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Apollo, 1957-1983, Apollo
Nuclear Materials & Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Parks Township, 1960-1980, Parks Township
Vitro Manufacturing – Canonsburg, 1942-1965, Canonsburg
Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant, 1942-1944, East Pittsburgh
South Carolina
Savannah River Site, 1953-1972, Aiken
Tennessee
Clarksville Modification Center, 1949-1967, Fort Campbell, Clarksville
Clinton Engineer Works, 1943-1949, Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K-25 Site), before February 1, 1992, Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge Hospital, 1950-1959, Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE), 1950-1956, Oak Ridge
S-50 Oak Ridge Thermal Diffusion Plant, 1944-1951, Oak Ridge
W. R. Grace, 1958-1970, Erwin
Y-12 Plant, 1943-1957, Oak Ridge
Texas
Medina Modification Center (formerly Medina Facility), 1958-1966, San Antonio
Pantex Plant, 1958-1983, Amarillo
Texas City Chemicals, Inc., 1953-1955, Texas City
Virginia
BWX Technologies, Inc., 1959, 1968-1972, 1985-94, Lynchburg
Washington
Hanford, 1943-1983, Richland