SEC Cases and Sites
SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT CASES & SITES MY SPECIALTY (ONE $BILLION IN AWARDS)
As a professional advocate, I specialize in cancer claims, assisting DOE-AEC workers, or direct survivors of those workers, in obtaining awards. I focus on seventy-seven (77) key DOE and AWE sites, including the national R&D labs, weapons test sites, and toxic materials and production plants. I also help some living workers who have been employed at many of the other eligible worksites, including the worker’s survivors. For my focused sites (the 77 sites with Special Exposure Cohort rules), I can usually get awards paid to my clients in four to six months from initial filing. With the right medical evidence, we can get deathbed or end stage terminally ill claimants paid in “days” from the outset if they qualify for Special Exposure Cohort site rules.
In my past seventeen years of client advocacy, since 2007, over 6,000 of my clients have received over $1 BILLION in lump sum awards, roughly 5 percent of all claims ever paid by this entitlement program. That is just in Part B and E lump sum awards I’ve helped with, aside from their medical expenses. Hundreds more are in my pipeline. These include direct prime and subcontractor employees at the atomic weapons test sites in Nevada, Pacific Proving Grounds, Amchitka, and all National Labs including Brookhaven, Los Alamos, Sandia, Livermore, Berkeley, Idaho and Oak Ridge, and production facilities including Pantex, Savannah River, Hanford, Rocky Flats, Mound, Fernald, Portsmouth, Paducah, Atomics International, General Atomics, etc. A diagnosis of one of 22 “specified” cancers and typically 250 workdays, in a specified date/timeframe, are the basic requirements for fast track wins. Other types take longer.
WHAT IS A SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT?
A Special Exposure Cohort class is a group of employees for whom it has been predetermined that accurate dose reconstruction cannot be calculated for a specific work site during a specific date time frame, and for any of 22 specified SEC cancers. Thus, radiation becomes the legally presumptive cause of the specified SEC cancer. You don’t have to prove causation by the workplace. Requires 250 workdays minimum, cumulative among SEC sites. Exceptions are Amchitka (1 day) and Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG, 83 days). Similar to PPG, NTS workers can have less than 250 days, as long as they can prove they lived on-site, thus 24 hours/day exposures, or prove weekend days also, as the law presumes a five day work week.
WHAT WORK SITES HAVE SPECIAL EXPOSURE STATUS?
The 77 sites below are Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) sites. There are about 380 “covered” DOE sites but the rest don’t have the SEC legal presumption benefit regarding causation. We focus on SEC specified cancer claims and SEC sites in particular.
Allied Chemical, 1-1-59 to 12-31-76, Metropolis, IL
Amchitka Island, AK, pre-1974, one day presence, exposure to Long Shot, Milrow, Cannikin tests
Argonne National Laboratory-West 1951 to 1957 Scoville, ID
Ames Laboratory, Iowa State Univ., 8-13-42 to 12-31-89, Ames, IA
Atomics International, sometimes Rocketdyne (originally NAA) sites:
— Canoga Avenue (Vanowen Bldg) 1-1-55 to 12-31-60, Canoga Park, CA
— DeSoto Avenue 1-1-59 to 12-31-64, Canoga Park, CA
— Downey Facility (Vandegraaf Gen) 1-1-48 to 12-31-55, Downey, CA
— Santa Susana Field Lab, Area IV (ETEC) 1-1-55 to 12-31-88, Simi Valley, CA
Baker Brothers, 6-1-43 to 12-31-44, Toledo, OH
Battelle Labs, King Avenue, 4-16-43 to 6-30-56
Bethlehem Steel, 1-1-49 to 12-31-52, Lackawanna, NY
Blockson Chemical, 3-1-51 to 6-30-60, Joliet, IL
Brookhaven National Laboratory 1-1-47 to 12-31-93, Upton, NY
BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, VA 1-1-85 to 11-30-94; 1-1-68 to 12-31-72; 1-1-59 to 12-31-59
Carborundum Company, 1-1-41 to 12/31/67, Niagara Falls, NY
Clarksville Modification Center 8-1-49 to12-31-67, Fort Campbell, Clarksville, TN
Columbia Univ, SAM Labs (Special Alloy Materials), 8-13-42 to12-31-47 New York, NY
Combustion Engineering 1-1-65 to 12-31-72 Windsor, CT
Connecticut Aircraft Nuclear Engine Laboratory (CANEL) 1-1-58 to12-31-65, Middletown, CT
Dow Madison, 1-1-57 to 12-31-60, Madison, IL
Dow Madison, 10-1-47 to 6-30-57, Pittsburg, CA
Electro Metallurgical, 8-13-42 to 12-31-47, Niagara Falls, NY
Feed Material Production Center, Fernald NLO & AEC, 1-1-54 to 12-31-78; 1-1-51 to 12-31-83 (non NLO workers), Fernald, OH
General Atomics 1-1-60-12-31-69 La Jolla, CA
General Electric Evendale (all employees) 1-1-61 to 6-30-70, Evendale, OH
Grand Junction Operations (AEC-DOE), 3-23-43 to 12-31-85, Grand Junction, CO
Hanford/Hanford Engineer Works (includes PNNL), 10-1-43 to 12-31-83; 1984-1990 for employees of Kaiser/J.A. Jones, plus certain subs, Richland, WA
Harshaw Chemical – Harvard-Denison, 8-14-42 to 11-30-49. Cleveland, OH
Horizons, 1-1-52 to 12-31-56 Cleveland, OH
Idaho National Laboratory, 3-1-70 to 12-31-74, one dosimeter, Scoville, ID
Idaho National Laboratory (CPP), 1-1-75 to 12-31-80, one dosimeter, Scoville, ID
Iowa Ordnance Plant (IAAP), Line 1, 5-48 to 3-49; Line 1, radiographers, 3-49 to 12-31-74, Burlington, IA
Kellex/Pierpont, 1-1-43 to 12-31-53, Jersey City, NJ
Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW), 1-1-44 to 12-31-53, Youngstown, NY
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 8-13-42 to 12-31-61, Berkeley, CA
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1-1-50 to 12-31-89, Livermore, CA
Linde Ceramics, 10-1-42 to 12-31-69, Tonawanda, NY
Los Alamos National Laboratory, 3-14-43 to 12-31-95, Los Alamos, NM
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works 1942 to 12-31-58, St. Louis, MO
Medina Modification Center 1-1-58 to 12-31-66, San Antonio, TX
Metals and Controls (aka Texas Instruments), ALL WORKERS, 1-1-52 to 9-21-95, Attleboro, MA
MIT, Hood Building, 3-9-46 to 12-31-63, Cambridge, MA
Mound Plant, 9-1-72 to 12-31-72; 1-1-75 to 12-31-76; 10-1-49 to 3-5-80, Miamisburg, OH
Nevada Test Site 1-27-51 to 1-31-92, Mercury & Jackass Flats, Nevada
Norton, 1-1-45-10 to 10-62, Worcester, MA
Nuclear Materials & Equipment (NUMEC), 1-1-57 to 12-31-83, Apollo, PA
Nuclear Materials & Equipment (NUMEC), 6-1-60 to 12-31-80, Parks Township, PA
Nuclear Metals, 10-29-58 to 12-31-79, Concord, MA
Oak Ridge, TN sites:
— K-25 site Gaseous Diffusion Plant, beginning to pre 2-1-92
— Oak Ridge Hospital, 5-15-50 to 12-31-59
— Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies Cancer Research Hosp. (ORINS), 5-15-50 to 12-31-63
— X-10 Oak Ridge National Lab, 6-17-43 to 7-31-55
— S-50 Thermal Diffusion Plant, 7-9-44 to 12-31-51
— Y-12 National Security Site, 3-1-43 to 7-31-79
— Clinton Engineer Works, 1-1-43 to 12-31-49
Pacific Proving Grounds, 1946 to 12-31-62, Eniwetok, Bikini, Christmas & Johnston atolls
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, beginning to pre 2-1-92, Paducah, KY
Pantex, 1-1-51 to 12-31-91, Amarillo, TX
Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor Site, 5-2-66 to 2-28-69, Piqua, OH
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, beginning to pre 2-11-92, Piketon, OH
Revere Copper and Brass, 7-24-43 to 12-31-54, Detroit, Ml
Rocky Flats, 4-1-52 to 12-31-83, Denver-Boulder, CO
Sandia National Laboratories, 1-1-45 to 12-31-96, Albuquerque, NM
Sandia National Laboratories, 10-1-57 to 12-31-94, Livermore, CA
Savannah River Site, all employees 1-1-53 to 9-30-72; 10-1-72 to 12-31-90, subcontractor employees only, those in construction trades
Simonds Saw and Steel, 1-1-48 to 12-31-57, Lockport, NY
Spencer Chemical/Jayhawk Works, 1-1-56 to 12-31-61, Pittsburg, KS
St. Louis Airport Storage, 1-3-47 to 11-2- 71, St. Louis, MO
Standard Oil Development, 8-13-42 to 12-31-45, Linden, NJ
Texas City Chemicals, 10-5-53 to 9-30-55, Texas City, TX
Texas Instruments (aka Metals and Controls), ALL WORKERS, 1-1-52 to 9-21-95, Attleboro, MA
Tyson Valley Powder Farm, 2-13-46 to 6-30-48, Eureka, MO
Univ. of Chicago, Metallurgical Laboratory, 8-13-42 to 6-30-46, Chicago, IL
University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project, 9-1-43 to 10-30-71, Rochester, NY
Ventron, 11-1-42 to 12-31-48, Beverly, MA
Vitro Manufacturing, 8-13-42 to 9-30-65, Canonsburg, PA
W.R. Grace, 5-1-56 to 1-31-58, Curtis Bay, MD
W.R. Grace, 1-1-58 to 12-31-70, Erwin, TN
Wah Chang, 1-1-71 to 12-31-72, Albany, OR
West Valley Demonstration Project, 1-1-69 to 12-31-73, West Valley, NY
Westinghouse Atomic Power Development Plant, 8-13-42 to 12-31-44, Pittsburg, PA
Westinghouse Electric, 8-13-42 to 12-31-49, (some dates 1958-59), Bloomfield, NJ
Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center, 1-1-52 to 12-31-61, Winchester, MA
WHAT CANCERS ARE COVERED, AND WHAT ARE THE TWENTY TWO SPECIFIED SPECIAL
EXPOSURE CANCERS (SEC)?
- Leukemia*, if onset of the disease occurred at least two years after first exposure
- Primary or secondary** lung cancer, including bronchi and trachea, sarcoma of the lung (other than in situ lung cancer that is discovered during or after a post-mortem exam). Does not include mesothelioma or pleura cancer.
- Primary or secondary** bone cancer (including the bone form of solitary plasmacytoma, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia, essential thrombocytosis or essential thrombocythemia (ET), primary polycythemia vera [also called PV, polycythemia rubra vera, P. vera, primary polycythemia, proliferative polycythemia, spent-phase polycythemia, or primary erythremia].
- Primary or secondary** renal (kidney) cancer
- The following diseases, provided onset was at least five years after the first explosure:
- Multiple Myeloma
- Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s disease); includes Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia and mycosis fungoides.
- Primary cancer of the:
- thyroid
- male or female breast
- esophagus
- stomach (gastric)
- pharynx, including all three areas, oropharynx, nasopharynx and hypopharynx. The oropharynx, e.g., includes base of tongue, soft palate and tonsils. The hypopharynx includes the pyriform sinus.
- small intestine
- pancreas
- bile ducts, including ampulla of vater, (cholangiocarcinoma)
- gall bladder
- salivary glands
- urinary bladder
- brain (malignancies only, not including intracranial endocrine glands and other parts of the central nervous system or borderline astrocytomas)
- colon, including rectum and appendix
- ovary
- liver, HCC hepatocellular carcinoma (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated)
Other malignant primary cancers (prostate, uterine, vaginal, anal, skin, etc.) may be compensable. All require further evaluation and radiation dose reconstruction studies.
* all leukemias, except CLL type. However, most CLL diagnoses also include SLL. SLL is an NHL lymphoma, not a leukemia. Thus if you have CLL/SLL in your actual diagnoses, you might qualify for SLL as an SEC specified cancer.
**secondary cancers are typically diagnosed as having been caused by metastasis (spread) from primary cancers.
MAJOR SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT SITES AMONG MY 6,000 PAST PAID CASES
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABS, is one of the “RAD LABS”. Back in the 1960’s-70’s I delivered a ton of electronic analog and digital instrumentation solutions to their engineers for precision testing, something I did in a prior life for all the AEC sites. When I first began doing cancer claims in 2007, the LLNL SEC designation covered only employees up to 1973. I filed a petition for 1974-2014. In 2016 my petition became law, giving all LLNL employees the further SEC presumptive causation benefit for work covering 1974-89. Thousands more employees became eligible instantly. Prior denied claims of anyone eligible finally got paid, even though they were not all my clients. It’s just one of myriad success stories being an advocate for cancer stricken workers. About twenty more such significant sites are depicted herewith, and as indicated there are 77 such SEC sites. I’ve done claims in most of them.