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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2004

SCHUMER: REPORT REVEALS SERIOUS FLAWS IN COMPENSATION FOR NUCLEAR WORKERS

Schumer urges feds to act on findings of the Bethlehem Steel audit released today, and to quickly come up with a plan for fair and equitable compensation of the Western NY nuclear workers

Schumer: NY’s Cold War Heroes have waited long enough; feds should fix their broken compensation system quickly and send the Western NY nuclear workers what they deserve

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to act on the findings of a federal audit of the Bethlehem Steel site profile released today, and to quickly come up with a strategy to implement a fair compensation plan for Western New York nuclear workers. Schumer said that the report indicates major flaws in NIOSH’s compensation system and called on the federal government to take quick action ensure Western New York nuclear workers get their due.

“This report proves what we’ve been saying all along– that there are gaping holes between the compensation Western New York nuclear workers have received and what they should be entitled to. These Cold War heroes have waited long enough to get their due compensation and its time that the feds step up to the plate, accept the findings of the report and start working to get these workers what they deserve,” Schumer said. “The report is clear– it shows a system fraught with bad assumptions and miscalculations and it’s time the feds start righting these wrongs.”

The Bethlehem Steel audit, which was performed by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health – the federal body that oversees the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program – was completed nearly two months ago and today the results were finally made public at a hearing in California. The Advisory Board studied NIOSH’s site profile of Bethlehem Steel, a document used in dose reconstruction to estimate the amount of exposure nuclear workers were subject to and is used by NIOSH to determine the compensation those workers receive. The audit found significant problems with both the validity of the scientific methods used to determine compensation for workers, as well as NIOSH’s approach to providing the compensation in a way that best serves the workers. The audit found NIOSH’s claims process is not sufficiently favorable to those claiming the benefits and therefore is negatively impacting the probability that certain workers will receive compensation.

The Board must now make recommendations on how to correct the system based on the findings of the report. Schumer urged the Board to expedite the evaluation of the report and NIOSH to implement the Board’s recommendations as soon as they are made. Schumer said that NIOSH should act in the best interest of Western New York nuclear workers by quickly developing a fair and equitable compensation plan moving forward and to make up for the gaps in compensation paid previously.
“NIOSH has fought us every step of the way and I know the Bethlehem Steel audit has created feelings of doubt and distrust among New York’s survivors and their families,” Schumer said. “When something is broken you fix it. Well now is NIOSH’s chance to do the right thing by quickly turning this boat around so that the nuclear workers are justly compensated for their sacrifices so many years ago, and we’re going to keep pushing NIOSH at every step in this process to ensure they come through for these workers. ”

Earlier this month, Schumer convinced NIOSH to hold an additional briefing on the findings of the report January 12, 2005 in Buffalo so that thousands of Bethlehem Steel Workers can learn about it firsthand and participate in the public discussion on the report. In November, Congress passed Schumer’s measure that will establish a new resource center in Western New York that would help sick nuclear workers with their compensation applications. Schumer, who has repeatedly lambasted the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) for only paying out ten percent of claims to New York nuclear workers, introduced the measure which the President has signed into law as part of the FY2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

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