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Rep. Tauscher and Sen. Feinstein Secure Resource Center
 In Bay Area for Sick and Dying Nuclear Workers

November 10, 2003

After pushing for more than a year to get a permanent resource center in California for sick and dying nuclear workers, Rep. Ellen Tauscher and Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced today that one will be coming soon. 

 “America’s Cold War veterans have been suffering for too long – first under the failure of the government to acknowledge their illnesses, and now under a compensation program that has not served them as intended,” said Rep. Tauscher.  “Senator Feinstein has my sincere thanks and appreciation for all her work to make this center possible.  Getting a resource center in the Bay Area will go a long way toward helping people who have suffered tremendously.  I will work to ensure officials at the Departments of Energy and Labor follow through and establish a resource center in the Bay Area in the very near future.”
 
“There are thousands of Bay Area residents who may have been exposed to radiation, or other carcinogens, in the course of their work to build America’s nuclear arsenal,” Senator Feinstein said.  “These men and women are entitled to compensation and medical care, and this center will help ensure that those who are sick get the help that they need.  I want to thank Representative Tauscher for her leadership on this issue, and I will continue to work with her to make this center a reality.”

Under the Energy Employees’ Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000, workers at current and former Energy Department sites – including the Manhattan Project and Atomic Energy Commission – are eligible for compensation and medical care if they were made sick as a result of their work to build America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.  This includes several types of cancer, Chronic Beryllium Disease and chronic silicosis.  Employees for contractors and sub-contractors are also eligible, and survivors of deceased employees are eligible for a lump-sum benefit.

In spite of having 35 current and former sites that fall under the benefits program, California does not have a permanent resource center to help sick workers or their survivors file claims.  Instead, a mobile unit based in Seattle is responsible for informing and assisting possible claimants in Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.   

Resource Center in Bay Area for Sick and Dying Nuclear Workers

Rep. Tauscher and Sen. Feinstein were concerned that the mobile center is unable to do the necessary follow-up on personnel records or adequately assist claimants through the complicated multi-step compensation process.  Because the mobile center does not have roots in California, it was difficult to reach a large number of possible beneficiaries.  The Bay Area alone is home to an estimated 40,000 nuclear weapons workers and their families.

 The last time the mobile unit visited the Bay Area was a stop in Pleasanton in June of 2003.

The Energy and Water Appropriations Bill directs the Department of Energy to establish a resource center in the Bay Area within 120 days of enactment.  This was included in the bill at the request of Rep. Tauscher and Sen. Feinstein.

“A resource center in the Bay Area is a big step toward obtaining justice for current and former atomic workers.  Tri-Valley CAREs has been conducting outreach to publicize the compensation program since its inception in 2000, and we have found that the workers face an uphill struggle.  The Departments of Energy and Labor seemed all too content to continue offering Bay Area atomic workers only sporadic and occasional traveling resource centers, which, while helpful, were grossly insufficient to meet their needs.  A permanent resource center will provide the sick workers and family members with invaluable assistance in tracking down their records and filling out the necessary forms,” said Marylia Kelley, Executive Director of Tri-Valley CAREs. 
 

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