Weapons Plant Report Disputed

Neither the former workers at a nuclear weapons plant in Largo nor Sen. Bill Nelson are buying into a recently released Inspector General report.

The report by the Inspector General for the federal Labor Department says claims for benefits under a program for sick plant workers are being processed according to law. Congress passed a program in 2000 to compensate sick workers at the General Electric plant and pay their medical bills.

"I lost faith in my government a long time ago," former GE plant worker Vivian Scott said. Scott worked at the Largo facility from 1969 to 1994. Workers helped build components for nuclear weapons at the plant.

The government admits it and its hired contractors knowingly exposed thousands at nuclear weapons plants across the country to toxic chemicals and radiation.

Many workers developed exposure-related illnesses. The program received 1,464 claims.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, administered by Labor, was supposed to make it easy for sick workers to get help. But critics say it is a bureaucratic nightmare.

The inspector general launched an investigation of the program after requests from Rep. C. W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, and inquiries from several members of Congress as to whether claims are appropriately adjudicated.

Young asked the IG to investigate allegations aired on News Channel 8 by former claims examiner in the Seattle office, Anne Block, who in May revealed she had been directed to inappropriately deny claims and that 85 percent to 90 percent of the claim files contained errors.

The IG report said it could not corroborate Block's claims, but several of her co-workers denied that supervisors directed them to inappropriately deny claims. The IG said Block's conditions for an interview were unacceptable, so no interview took place.

Nelson, D-Fla., said the investigation is flawed. "The IG report that just came out did not even interview one of the main complainants, the lady who said she was told to deny these claims without being given a reason," Nelson said.

The IG report did find that the Labor Department was too slow in processing claims. It found the department had improved but still took more than two years to process claims from sick workers. It also noted the department lacked an effective system for tracking claims sent to other agencies.