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For Immediate Release Wednesday, April 16, 2008 |
CONTACTS:
Stephanie Valencia (Salazar) – 202-494-8790 |
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Members
of CO Delegation: 'DOL Rule Change an Injustice to Rocky Flats Workers' WASHINGTON, DC – Today, members of the Colorado Delegation, including United States Senator Ken Salazar and Reps. Mark Udall, Ed Perlmutter and John Salazar, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health Director John Howard and Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health Chair Dr. Paul Ziemer, urging them to reconsider recently imposed guidelines that effectively revoke previously approved benefits for Rocky Flats workers and/or their families. In yet another setback for the workers and families of Rocky Flats, on January 23, 2008, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued EEOICPA Bulletin Number 08-14, which requires former plant workers to prove that they worked in specific, high-risk buildings. Under the guidelines set forth in this bulletin, workers at the Rocky Flats Plant or their survivors whose claims were approved as meeting the requirements for inclusion in the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) will now be denied compensation. In their letter, the members of the delegation wrote, “This is a clear example of DOL changing the rules in the middle of the game and creating more bureaucratic red tape to prevent Rocky Flats Plant workers from receiving compensation… Further restricting workers or their survivors from receiving compensation is not consistent with purpose of the Program: to compensate those who put their health on the line to help fight the Cold War.” In their letter, the members of the delegation also mentioned a letter sent by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health to Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt, as well as letters drafted by Secretary Leavitt to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which do not state that a worker would have to prove that they worked in specific buildings, but only that they meet all of the following SEC requirements for federal compensation:
In addition, the delegation recounted the story of Ms. Mary Bock, who as a result of her twenty-year employment at the Rocky Flats Plant, passed away from cancers of the lung, brain and bones. As the bereaved, her children rightfully filed a claim for compensation, which was approved in November 2007. However, as a result of the recently imposed guidelines set forth by Bulletin Number 08-14, their previously approved claim was ultimately revoked. As part of their ongoing efforts to ensure that Rocky Flats Workers and their families receive the compensation they deserve, late last year, Senator Salazar, Congressmen Mark Udall (CO-2), John Salazar (CO-3) and Ed Perlmutter (CO-7), wrote another letter to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao stating that although a decision by the department to include 775 Rocky Flats workers from Building 881 under the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) status was a welcome one, much more must be done to fully address the needs of additional Rocky Flats workers, America’s Cold War Veterans.
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