[CPEO-MEF] DEFENSE BILL INCLUDES MILLIONS FOR NUCLEAR WORKERS' COMPENSATION

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

>From Environment News Service
http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-09-09.html

DEFENSE BILL INCLUDES MILLIONS FOR NUCLEAR WORKERS' COMPENSATION

WASHINGTON, DC, October 9, 2000 (ENS) - Congress has approved a Defense
Department appropriations bill that includes millions of dollars to
compensate nuclear weapons workers, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said
Friday. The program would cover employees who were injured after exposure
to radiation, beryllium or silica while working at weapons plants over the
past 50 years. "Under the proposal in the defense authorization bill,
nuclear weapons workers with radiation related cancers and lung disease
will receive benefits to help pay their medical bills," said Richardson.
"It's a national debt long owed our Cold War veterans, who've paid the
highest price possible for their service to the nation." Eligible workers
would receive a lump sum payment of $150,000, plus all future medical costs
related to the illness. The program would receive $250 million in fiscal
year 2001, and additional funds would be made available as needed without
the need for Congressional approval. 

The $309 billion Defense bill, which must still be signed by President Bill
Clinton, also includes $40 million for projects on the Puerto Rican island
of Vieques, where the Navy maintains a bombing range and training
facilities. The bill would transfer 4,000 acres on the western side of the
island to the people of Vieques. The appropriations measure authorizes
about $1.3 billion for environmental restoration activities, which is $45
million more than the White House requested for remediating former defense
sites. An additional $50 million would be spent on the Hanford Tank Waste
Remediation System project at the Hanford Reservation in Washington state.
The controversial National Ignition Facility would get $136 million to
continue construction on the project, which is already over budget. 
-- 
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
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The LOC newsletter "Insights" is posted on our Web site
http://www.local-oversight.org - E-mail loc@icx.net 
.....................................................

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