Federal bill would ease payments to Rocketdyne's ill workers

A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives will ease payments to former Rocketdyne workers who became ill due to their work at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, benefits are supposed to be paid automatically to workers who received on-the-job radiation exposure for at least one year and developed a covered cancer at least five years later. Some atomic workers have developed such cancers but, according to Department of Energy records, they were not exposed to radiation.

This could easily have occurred at the laboratory since workers who may not have been assigned to affected buildings visited these facilities routinely as part of their jobs. Because work records may be up to 50 years old, the records are often incomplete and, in some cases, missing.

As a result, of the 677 claims filed by Rocketdyne workers, only 56 claims have been paid.

The bill would provide for automatic benefits for any person who worked at the laboratory for 250 days and who developed a disease that is known to be a result of exposure to radiation or other toxins before Jan. 1, 2006.

The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks).

"Rocketdyne workers were involved in critical defense work during the Cold War and, in the process, some of them were exposed to some deadly material," Gallegly said. "It is only right to compensate them for the suffering brought on by their dedication and sacrifice to our country's defense."