Worker program failing

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to compensate sickened nuclear weapons workers throughout the nation. These workers were unwittingly exposed to radiation and other toxins while working in contaminated government facilities. Regrettably, workers have encountered a Kafkaesque program that has failed to provide basic fairness.

Claimants from around the country, including sickened workers from Hanford, have waited years to have their claims processed only to have those claims inexplicably denied. These workers need Congress to investigate why this program has failed so miserably.

The Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups (ANWAG) has posted an online petition urging Congress to hold oversight hearings on the implementation of EEOICPA by the Department of Labor and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Use your browser to search for anwag petition.

These agencies contend that they are implementing EEOICPA fairly. However, when workers are not provided with comprehensible information regarding why their claim was denied, that argument becomes increasingly dubious. It is impossible to appeal a denied claim effectively if you cannot understand why the claim was denied in the first place. This basic tenet of due process has been abandoned within EEOICPA.

Antoinette Bonsignore, ANWAG Representative