The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was enacted in October of 2004 to provide compensation and medical benefits to employees, contractors, and subcontractors who worked at certain Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. In some cases, family members of affected employees can receive benefits as well. A DOE facility is a structure, building, or premise that has been determined by the federal Department of Labor to be used for most DOE operations, where employees are sometimes subjected to working or being in close proximity to toxic substances. A toxic substance is any material that has the potential to cause illness or death because of its radioactive, chemical, or biological nature. Some examples of common toxic substances are: asbestos, acetone, benzene, lead, mercury, uranium, and others. Because these substances can be so volatile, the EEOICPA was enacted as a protective measure for employees that may be exposed to such materials.
What DOE Facilities are in Southern Ohio?
There are several facilities in the Greater Cincinnati area that were used for DOE operations. The primary one is GE Evendale — also known as Air Force Plant 36, GE Lockland, or GE Cincinnati. This facility was a vendor of Beryllium for the US Department of Energy, as the facility’s primary purpose was to construct airplane engines.
At GE’s Evendale plant, workers refined or fabricated beryllium oxide or beryllium, and they worked with uranium, thorium, and other radioactive materials. This work happened between 1951 and 1970. Employees who worked for the Department of Energy or for General Electric Company for at least 250 work days between January 1961 and June 1970 are included in the “Special Exposure Cohort” of the EEOICPA. In August of 2015, the EEOICPA paid out more than $97,000,000 to workers who were employed at the General Electric Company (Ohio) in Evendale.