Kennedy grills Texas Instruments president
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Congressmen Joseph Kennedy III speaks at the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting on Monday at the Holiday Inn in Taunton.
Congressman Joseph Kennedy, III, questioned Texas Instruments President and CEO Richard Templeton on the company’s efforts to help provide compensation to former nuclear workers in the area diagnosed with cancer.
In the 1950s and 1960s, workers at the Metals and Controls plant in Attleboro, which later became a part of Texas Instruments, worked hands-on with nuclear materials, and many have since been diagnosed with various types of cancer.
Kennedy cited a talk he had with a Rehoboth man who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1992. Kennedy said the man knew of more than 180 of his former colleagues that have been diagnosed with some form of cancer.
“I tell those stories not to cast blame,” Kennedy said at the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing on Wednesday. “The human cost of this country’s nuclear development in the 50’s and 60’s is not unique to Texas Instruments or to Attleboro. But I do believe that your company, along with the federal government, has a responsibility to the men and women we put in harm’s way.”
In 2001, the government established the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (EEOIC) program to provide compensation and pay medical bills for former employees.
Since then, the government has paid 301 claims related to Metals and Controls Corporation, totaling over $27 million, according to the Department of Labor.
Nationally, EEOIC has paid out over $9 billion in claims.
On Wednesday, Kennedy said many former employees still are not aware of their potential eligibility for benefits and more needs to be done to reach out to them.
“The money is there. The program is there. The need, tragically, is there. The communication is not. And we need to fix that,” Kennedy said.
When questioned, Templeton agreed with the need to improve outreach about EEOIC’s existence.
“I think you described the actions we need to take,” Templeton said. “We need to stay in contact between the appropriate government agencies and your office. We’ve been very active with the departments to make sure any information we could help with was available, and we need to continue that, take a look if there’s more that could be done. We should be doing it with you.”
Former workers who believe they may be eligible for benefits can visit the EEOIC’s website at www.dol.gov/owcp/energy, or call 1-866-888-3322.
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