Post by Logan on Apr 7, 2016 4:11:31 GMT -6
Senators slam new directive on aid for sick US nuclear workers
WASHINGTON — Siding with sick and dying nuclear workers, Washington state’s U.S. senators took strong aim Wednesday at a new plan advanced by the Obama administration, saying it could make it much harder for eligible employees to win federal compensation.
“We have seen firsthand the difficulties and hazards cleanup work presents at Hanford,” Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell said in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who’s in charge of the compensation program.
At issue is a directive that orders claims examiners to conclude that workers at Department of Energy nuclear facilities have not had any significant exposure to toxins since 1995 “in the absence of compelling data to the contrary.”
While the administration has defended the plan as a way to speed up compensation claims, the senators said it appeared to do so “at the expense of the workers the program is designed to compensate.”
Read more: www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/senators-slam-new-directive-on-aid-for-sick-us-nuclear-workers/
WASHINGTON — Siding with sick and dying nuclear workers, Washington state’s U.S. senators took strong aim Wednesday at a new plan advanced by the Obama administration, saying it could make it much harder for eligible employees to win federal compensation.
“We have seen firsthand the difficulties and hazards cleanup work presents at Hanford,” Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell said in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who’s in charge of the compensation program.
At issue is a directive that orders claims examiners to conclude that workers at Department of Energy nuclear facilities have not had any significant exposure to toxins since 1995 “in the absence of compelling data to the contrary.”
While the administration has defended the plan as a way to speed up compensation claims, the senators said it appeared to do so “at the expense of the workers the program is designed to compensate.”
Read more: www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/senators-slam-new-directive-on-aid-for-sick-us-nuclear-workers/