Tennessee is the first state to pass the $2 billion milestone for money and medical care received from the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program.
According to the latest figures released March 20, Tennessee residents had received $2,097,435,233 in total compensation and medical bills paid.
Most of the Tennessee claimants were former workers – or their surviving relatives – at the nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge.
Across all states and former workers at the nuclear weapons sites, more than $12 billion has been distributed from the fund since the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program Act was enacted in 2000.
Sick Nuclear Workers Advisory Board to Meet in D.C.
The Obama administration’s newly named Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health will meet for the first time April 26-28 in Washington, D.C.
The panel is the result of a long push by sick-worker advocates to gain additional support for claims by personnel who once worked on nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project and Cold War or their survivors. The board will advise the secretary of labor on technical issues pertaining to the claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program.
The much-anticipated announcement of the board members was greeted enthusiastically.
“What a great selection of highly qualified people to serve on the Board!” Terrie Barrie of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups wrote in an email message to supporters. The board’s meetings will be open to the public.
Here are the members of the advisory board, by group:
Scientific Community:
John M. Dement, Ph.D., CIH, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center
Mark Griffon, Retired, Creative Pollution Solutions Inc.
Kenneth Z. Silver, D.Sc., S.M., East Tennessee State University
George Friedman-Jimenez, MD, Dr.Ph., Bellevue Hospital Center, NYU School of Medicine
Leslie I. Boden, Ph.D., Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Medical Community:
CHAIR: Steven Markowitz, MD. Dr.Ph., Queens College, CUNY School of Public Health
Laura S. Welch, MD, Center for Construction Research and Training
Rosemary K. Sokas, MD, MPH, M.Sc., Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies
Carrie A. Redlich, MD, MPH, Yale School of Medicine
Victoria A. Cassano, MD, MPH, Performance Medicine Consulting
Claimant community
Duronda M. Pope, United Steelworkers
Kirk D. Domina, Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council
Garry M. Whitley, Worker Health Protection Program, Atomic Trades and Labor Council
James H. Turner, Retired, Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility
Faye Vlieger, Claimant Advocate; Chair, DEEOIC Interim Advisory Board (DIAB)(volunteer organization).
The board will provide advice on Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act program. The board was mandated by amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015.
The board will meet at least twice yearly, with public comment periods and remote participation offered. Questions can be sent to [email protected].
