Friday, Oct. 03, 2008

Former claims examiner criticizes Hanford ill worker program

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

TRI-CITIES -- Arbitrary and capricious actions by the Department of Labor have led to claims by ill workers at Hanford and other nuclear sites being improperly denied or decisions delayed, a former claims examiner with the Department of Labor said Thursday.

"This program is not claimant friendly," said attorney Anne Block. "You've got people more interested in keeping their jobs than helping claimants."

She was at the open house before Hanford's annual Tri-City State of the Site meeting to discuss problems she saw with the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.

The meeting that followed drew about 175 people.

Some came to ask about changes in Hanford programs that put the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Central Characterization Project in New Mexico in charge of some work at Hanford, and a plan to send some Hanford waste to Idaho for treatment.

But the discussion kept coming back to worker health. Several workers talked about how difficult it has been to get information and help, including compensation through the federal program for ill nuclear workers.

Steve Ghiglione said he worked as an operator at Hanford for 14 years and now has two types of cancer that have been linked to radiation, multiple myeloma and lymphoma. A year-and-a-half after filing compensation claims with the federal program he has made no headway, he said. He has a life expectancy of just five to seven years, he said.

Before the meeting, Ruth Johns of Kennewick said her husband had filed a skin cancer claim after working at Hanford for nearly 40 years dating back to World War II. She estimated he filed the claim six or seven years ago. Her husband died two years ago, but she still has not received approval or denial of the claim.

Instead, she gets "huge letters with all kinds of hullabaloo that mean nothing" to the average person, said her son, Forest Newsom of Kennewick.

Block is recommending that a lawyer or other educated advocate who is independent of the Department of Labor be placed in each office that decides claims. Not only would they serve as an advocate for claimants, but they would be the ears and eyes of the program.

She worked in the Department of Labor's Seattle office from November 2006 to November 2007 but now has teamed up with Hanford Challenge, a nonprofit group, to help workers navigate the claims system.

Some of the actions she observed in the handling of claims were illegal, she alleged.

Examiners were ordered in some cases to deny claims even though the file on the claim had not been reviewed, she alleged. That usually happened near the end of the year or the fiscal quarter, she said. In other cases, actions on claims were purposefully delayed if a well-known advocate or attorney was assisting an ill worker or survivor with a claim, she said.

Block saw medical evidence ignored and examiners ordered not to add covered medical conditions to a claim, such as disease related to asbestos, unless a claimant made a specific request, she said.

In one instance, she noticed that a worker may have been exposed to radiation at a second Department of Energy site, but was told not to rework the claim.

"This program is not claimant friendly," she said. "It's a bureaucracy."

Claims examiners who complained received low bonuses, were harassed or were fired, she said.

"From the beginning we have worked to instill in all our claims examiners the idea that they are to assist claimants to the fullest extent possible," said Loren Smith, spokesman for the Department of Labor.

However, the Department of Labor cannot comment on Block's allegations because she is engaged in litigation against the department, he said. Block, who was fired from the department, has filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission action claiming a hostile work environment, she said.

The compensation program has paid out $268 million to Hanford and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory workers and their survivors.

The program offers $150,000 in compensation to ill workers or their survivors if workplace radiation likely caused their cancer. The compensation also covers workers with beryllium disease from exposure to the metal used at nuclear sites.

In addition, ill workers and certain survivors may be paid up to $250,000 for wage loss and impairment caused by exposure to toxic substances, which could include radiation, chemicals, solvents, acids and metals.