December 13, 2000

By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER

LIVERMORE--Three federal agencies will join in a program to compensate NUCLEAR weapons workers and families of deceased workers for work-related illnesses.

President Clinton issued an executive order this month putting into action a Congress-approved illness compensation act. The order stipulates that the Energy Department, Labor Department, and Health and Human Services Department will carry out the program.

"We've come a long way since I apologized on behalf of the government last year," said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. "This is one of the most meaningful new federal programs in decades, impacting the lives of thousands of Americans."

He said the executive order "ensures that the compensation program will remain on course for years to come."

Richardson reversed decades of Energy Department denials last year when he acknowledged NUCLEAR weapons work may have caused illnesses and deaths.

Under the compensation program, a worker suffering from work-related illnesses could receive a one-time payment of $150,000 or medical expenses for life. The families of workers who died from exposure to toxins in the workplace would be eligible to receive the lump-sum payment.

Radiation exposure and berylliosis, a respiratory disease directly linked to exposure to beryllium, a lightweight metal, are among the illnesses covered by the compensation act.

The Labor Department will help to determine eligibility requirements and adjudicate claims for the program, and the Health and Human Services Department will provide scientific analyses for the program.

Also, the executive order called for a Worker Assistance Program that will help employees apply for benefits if they are suffering from illnesses not covered in the act.

And the Energy Department must publish a list of facilities where workers may have been exposed to illness-causing toxins while working for the department, the order states.

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory is engaged in a beryllium screening program, funded by the Energy Department, to identify former employees who may be at risk of developing berylliosis.

Dr. Jim Seward, medical director at Livermore Lab, said 3,000 letters have been sent to former employees so far and 600 have indicated an interest in being tested for beryllium exposure. Of that number, 300 already have been screened, and three former workers have positive tests, meaning they may be at risk of contracting the disease.

"We need additional medical testing to find out if they do have a beryllium related (illness)," Seward said. One former lab worker who was diagnosed with berylliosis died of lung cancer.

While other Energy Department sites have received special funding to perform other specific health screenings for former employees, Livermore Lab "does not have such a program at this point," he added.

Former Livermore Lab workers and non-lab workers who may be ill from work performed for the Energy Department can call (800) 269-0157 Exts. 8373 or 2405, to set up an appointment for berylliosis screening. Energy Department workers who may be suffering from work-related illnesses can also call an Energy Department hotline at (877) 447- 9456.