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NIOSH Program Area:

Office of Compensation Analysis and Support (OCAS)

 

Blockson Chemical Company (Building 55 and Related Activities)
(Site Profile Number 013)

Location: Joliet, Illinois

Also Known As: Blockson Chemical Group
                         Olin
                         Olin Mathieson

Technical Basis Document


Technical Basis Document for Atomic Energy Operations at Blockson Chemical Company, Joliet, Illinois
(Revised November 21, 2007)
this document in PDF PDF 1.4 MB (46 pages)

Revision Includes: Changed footnote 2 of Table 4a and footnote 3 of Table 12a to require consideration of Type M and Type S thorium in Building 55. Corrected an error in the liver dose in Table 8. Corrected errors in columns of Table 7 and resulting graph in Figure 6. No other changes were made.

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Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

At the current time, there are no TIBs for the Blockson Chemical Company.

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Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs)

NIOSH is committed to applying the best available science in dose reconstructions. In keeping with this commitment, completed cases with probabilities of causation less than 50% are reviewed as relevant new information becomes available. The results of these reviews are described in a Program Evaluation Report (PER). The PER details the effect, if any, of the new information on the completed dose reconstruction. If it appears that the compensability of a completed dose reconstruction may be effected, NIOSH is committed to working with the Department of Labor to reopen and rework the dose reconstruction, as appropriate. A Program Evaluation Plan (PEP) describes plans for evaluating specific program details or issues.

Program Evaluation Report: Blockson TBD Revision
this document in PDF PDF 14 KB (1 page)

Document Number: OCAS-PER-0020 Rev-00

About this Document: New document to determine which previously completed claims require evaluation for the effect of revising the Blockson TBD.

Approved: July 31, 2007

Summary: It is not possible to determine the magnitude of the change to dose without a new dose estimate. Since (as of issuance of this PER) no Blockson Chemical Company claims have yet been completed with the newest revision to the TBD, NIOSH is requesting that all Blockson Chemical Company claims with a Probability of Causation less than 50% be returned for a new estimate. A list of the entire population of the ninety-one potentially affected claims is attached. A new dose reconstruction will be completed for each of the claims using the latest revision to the Blockson TBD.

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Worker Outreach Activities

Based on a recommendation from the Advisory Board to provide workers and site experts with opportunities to participate in developing the technical documents used in dose reconstruction, NIOSH established a Worker Outreach Program.

At Worker Outreach Meetings, current and former DOE and AWE employees have opportunities to obtain information about Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins, and to provide information for consideration and possible use in dose reconstruction. This process is valuable to ensure that the technical documents used in dose reconstruction contain correct and useful information.

Below are the Worker Outreach Activities for Blockson Chemical Company:

  • September 12, 2007
    Meeting with former Blockson/Olin Chemical Company workers and survivors of former workers in Joliet, Illinois

    Joliet Municipal Building
    150 West Jefferson
    Joliet, Illinois

    Transcript
    this document in PDF PDF 107 KB (32 pages)

  • January 24 and 25, 2007
    Meeting with former workers from Blockson Chemical Company, Joliet, Illinois

    Joliet Municipal Building
    150 West Jefferson
    Joliet, Illinois
    7:00 p.m.

    Note: Former workers are welcome to attend either or both meetings and we encourage you to invite other workers who may have knowledge about the former Blockson Chemical Company. Please note that these meetings are not being held to discuss individual claims or concerns about the EEOICPA program. The meetings will be transcribed by a court reporter and the transcript will be made available to the public.

    Transcript from January 24, 2007
    this document in PDF PDF 3.7 MB (152 pages)

    Minutes from January 25, 2007
    this document in PDF PDF 155 KB (35 pages)

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Advisory Board Work Group on Blockson Chemical SEC


This Work Group is responsible to review the SEC petition from Blockson Chemical petitioners, to review the NIOSH Evaluation Report of the petition, to consider issues raised by the Board's contractor (SC&A), and to assist NIOSH and SC&A in the resolution of such issues. The Work Group should strive to develop a recommendation to the Board on adding a class to the SEC.
  • Work Group Members
    Wanda Munn-Chair
    Michael Gibson
    James Melius
    Genevieve Roessler
    Bradley Clawson--Alternate
  • Meeting Information

    • December 12, 2008
      Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical Company

      9:00 a.m. (Eastern time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      An agenda will be provided at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 177 KB (95 pages)

      Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These documents, which can include white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among the Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. The discussions during the above meeting may cover a pre-decisional document. Because these types of documents are pre-decisional in nature, may contain sensitive information, and may change over time, they are not posted on our Web site. These finalized, reviewed and redacted pre-decisional documents are also available to other interested parties through an appropriate Freedom of Information Act request. Requests for documents not in the public domain should be submitted to the CDC/ATSDR Freedom of Information Act Office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

    • October 15, 2008
      Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical Company

      Cincinnati Airport Marriott
      2395 Progress Dr.
      Hebron, KY 41048
      (859) 586-0166

      9:30 a.m. (Eastern time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      An agenda will be provided at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 280 KB (153 pages)

      Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These documents, which can include white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among the Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. The discussions during the above meeting may cover a pre-decisional document. Because these types of documents are pre-decisional in nature, may contain sensitive information, and may change over time, they are not posted on our Web site. These finalized, reviewed and redacted pre-decisional documents are also available to other interested parties through an appropriate Freedom of Information Act request. Requests for documents not in the public domain should be submitted to the CDC/ATSDR Freedom of Information Act Office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

    • June 25, 2008
      Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical Company

      Millennium Hotel Complex
      200 S. 4th Street
      St. Louis, MO 631121
      (314) 241-9500

      4:00 p.m. (Central time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      Agenda items will be provided at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 200 KB (109 pages)

      Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These documents, which can include white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among the Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. The discussions during the above meeting may cover a pre-decisional document. Because these types of documents are pre-decisional in nature, may contain sensitive information, and may change over time, they are not posted on our Web site. These finalized, reviewed and redacted pre-decisional documents are also available to other interested parties through an appropriate Freedom of Information Act request. Requests for documents not in the public domain should be submitted to the CDC/ATSDR Freedom of Information Act Office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

    • June 24, 2008
      Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical Company

      Millennium Hotel Complex
      200 S. 4th Street
      St. Louis, MO 631121
      (314) 241-9500

      5:15 p.m. (Central time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      Agenda items will be provided at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 200 KB (109 pages)

      Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These documents, which can include white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among the Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. The discussions during the above meeting may cover a pre-decisional document. Because these types of documents are pre-decisional in nature, may contain sensitive information, and may change over time, they are not posted on our Web site. These finalized, reviewed and redacted pre-decisional documents are also available to other interested parties through an appropriate Freedom of Information Act request. Requests for documents not in the public domain should be submitted to the CDC/ATSDR Freedom of Information Act Office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

    • June 5, 2008
      Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical Company
      Cincinnati Airport Marriott
      2395 Progress Dr.
      Hebron, KY 41048
      (859) 586-0166

      9:30 a.m. (Eastern time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      Agenda items will be provided at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 239 KB (171 pages)

      Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board's Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These documents, which can include white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among the Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. The discussions during the above meeting may cover a pre-decisional document. Because these types of documents are pre- decisional in nature, may contain sensitive information, and may change over time, they are not posted on our Web site. These finalized, reviewed and redacted pre-decisional documents are also available to other interested parties through an appropriate Freedom of Information Act request. Requests for documents not in the public domain should be submitted to the CDC/ATSDR Freedom of Information Act Office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

    • November 19, 2007
      Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Board's Work Group on Blockson Chemical SEC
      11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Eastern time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. To access the meeting via the call-in access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      An agenda will be available at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 54 KB (24 pages)

    • November 2, 2007
      Teleconference Meeting of of the Advisory Board Work Group on Blockson Chemical SEC
      11:00 a.m. (Eastern time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. To access the meeting via the call-in access, you must dial 1-866-659-0537. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9933701.

      An agenda will be available at a later date.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 93 KB (59 pages)

    • August 28, 2007
      Advisory Board Work Group Meeting
      Cincinnati Airport Marriott
      2395 Progress Dr.
      Hebron, KY 41048
      (859) 586-0166

      10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)

      This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-643-6504. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9448550.

      Agenda: This meeting has been scheduled to discuss Blockson Chemical

    • January 9, 2007
      Blockson Chemical Work Group Teleconference Meeting

      5:30 p.m. (Eastern time)

      Open to the public, but without a public comment period. Teleconference call access is available for this meeting and it is limited only by the number of ports available. To access the meeting via the teleconference call access, you must dial 1-866-643-6504. To be automatically connected to the meeting, you will need to enter the following participant code: 9448550.

      Agenda: To discuss Blockson Chemical.

      Transcript
      this document in PDF PDF 78 KB (49 pages)

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Comments Blockson Chemical Company Documents

How to Submit Comments
Comments on Blockson Chemical Company documents can be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Officer electronically by e-mail at NIOCINDOCKET@cdc.gov or printed comments can be mailed to NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS-C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226. Please include the Site Profile Number (provided at the top of this page) on all comments.

Comments Received

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Special Exposure Cohort Petition Information for Blockson Chemical Company

  • Petition Information

    NOTE: Two separate SEC Petitions have been received for the Blockson Chemical Company. Both petitions have qualified for evaluation.

    1. Location: Building 55

      Job Titles and/or Job Duties: Utility Engineer, Laborer, Research Chemist, Relief Operator, Plant Operator, Maintenance and Pipefitter, Lead Mixer, Operator, and Supervisor HF Acid

      Period of Employment: October 10, 1952 through December 31, 1962

    2. Location: Building 55

      Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All workers who worked in Building 55 at the Blockson Chemical Company

      Period of Employment: January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1962

  • Federal Register Notice Announcing that the Blockson Chemical Plant SEC Petition has met the Minimum Qualifications for Review and Evaluation
    March 27, 2006 (October 10, 1952 through December 31, 1962)
    this document in PDF PDF 44 KB (1 page)

    August 17, 2006 (January 1, 1951 through December 31, 1962)
    this document in PDF PDF 46 KB (1 page)

  • Copy of the Petition Received
    Part 1
    this document in PDF PDF 1.4 MB (32 pages)

    Part 2
    this document in PDF PDF 807 KB (32 pages)

  • SEC Petition Evaluation Report
    Blockson Chemical Company Evaluation Report
    this document in PDF PDF 231 KB (50 pages)

  • Petition to be Discussed by the Advisory Board
    The petition was discussed by the Advisory Board during its December 11-13, 2006; July 18, 2007; January 9, 2008; and April 9, 2008, during its regular meeting.

  • Advisory Board Recommendation on SEC Petition
    The petition was discussed by the Advisory Board on June 26, 2008, during its regular meeting.

  • HHS Letter to Congress Regarding the SEC Petition
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • Federal Register Notice: Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • HHS Designation of Additional Members to the SEC
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • Effective Date for the SEC Class
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • Federal Register Notice: Final Effect of Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • Letter to DOL Regarding the Addition of a New Class of Employees to the SEC
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

  • Letter from DOL Regarding the Return of All Cases for the New SEC Class
    Not applicable at this time.
    (Note: this only applies if the class is added to the SEC.)

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Miscellaneous Documents Regarding Blockson Chemical Company

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Previous Versions of Blockson Chemical Company Documents

Technical Basis Document for Atomic Energy Operations at Blockson Chemical Company, Joliet, Illinois

Revised June 20, 2007
this document in PDF PDF 1.5 MB (46 pages)

Revision Includes: Incorporated review comments. Revised internal and external dose modeling. Added additional site information and radiological data discussion. Changes results in an increase of dose, and a PER is required.


Revised September 11, 2006
this document in PDF PDF 1.3 MB (27 pages)

Revision Includes: Incorporates resolution of review comments. This supersedes ORAUT-TKBS-0002 (previously revised document dated June 29, 2004).

Technical Basis Document for the Development of an Exposure Matrix for Blockson Chemical Company

Revised June 29, 2004
this document in PDF PDF 1.5 MB (19 pages)

Approved October 10, 2003
this document in PDF PDF 743 KB (21 pages)

SEC Petition Evaluation Report

SEC Petition Evaluation Report: Petition SEC-00058
this document in PDF PDF 236 KB (35 pages)

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Page last updated: January 14, 2009
Page last reviewed: May 30, 2008
Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

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Technical Basis Document
Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)
Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs)
Worker Outreach Activities
Advisory Board Work Group on Blockson Chemical SEC
Comments Blockson Chemical Company Documents
Special Exposure Cohort Petition Information for Blockson Chemical Company
Miscellaneous Documents Regarding Blockson Chemical Company
Previous Versions of Blockson Chemical Company Documents
Claimant Corner
Claim Information
Commonly Used Acronyms
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General Activities on AWE Cases
General Activities on DOE Cases
Help A-Z
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Probability of Causation
(NIOSH-IREP)

Program Evaluation Reports (PERs) and Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs)
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