CHANGE IN RULES IMPACTS FIELD LAB REJECTED CLAIMS CAN BE REFILED.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

People who became ill while working at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory or other nuclear research facilities in the San Fernando Valley area may be eligible for workers' compensation payments of up to $250,000 under new federal regulations, officials said Wednesday.

Two recent changes to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program allows former employees or their survivors to apply - or reapply - for payments if they were sickened by their work with radiation or toxic chemicals as part of research conducted for decades under contracts with the Department of Energy.

The announcement was made during meetings held Tuesday night and Wednesday with former workers of the Energy Technology Engineering Center, Atomics International and Rocketdyne - which was later purchased by Rockwell and then the Boeing Co. Among the facilities involved were the company's Canoga Park, De Soto, Downey and Santa Susana Field Lab Area 4 operations.

``This program is for real. We do pay out benefits - $1.2 billion has been paid to employees and families,'' said John Vance, acting branch chief for policy, regulations and procedures with the U.S. Department of Labor.

The program, which was passed by Congress in 2000, uses federal tax dollars to compensate workers and their families for injuries and illness resulting from decades of nuclear research and weapons development during the Cold War.

The announcement was good news for former employees at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Lab, where some worked on nuclear reactors to help provide reliable power for space exploration and satellites for the Department of Energy. Others handled toxic chemicals in their research.

``There were a lot of bugs to be worked out, and the engineers had to do it. I don't think they knew what they were getting exposed to,'' said Helen Trueblood, whose husband, Floyd, a field lab employee, died of lymphoma and a lung condition.

Trueblood said she has a stack of paperwork documenting her husband's illnesses, and she plans to apply for payments.

``I expect to be compensated for sorrow and pain. My husband gave his life, and he suffered so much,'' she said.

A Labor Department decision last month overrules a policy implemented by the Department of Energy and the Boeing Co., which limited who could qualify for compensation for work-related illnesses or injuries.

Previously, only a select group of workers assigned to atomic operations were eligible for $150,000 payments under the so-called Part B program, which meant that most Rocketdyne workers were denied payments, Vance said.

However, Rocketdyne workers said they, too, were exposed to radiation while working in Area 4, a central site for nuclear research.

And after much legal wrangling, the Department of Labor decided to consider compensation for any employees who worked in Area 4 at the Field Lab or at Rocketdyne's Canoga Park, De Soto Avenue and Downey facilities.

That could mean that Robert Perock - who suffers from acute myeloid leukemia - and other workers who got rejection letters from the compensation program could now be due up to $150,000 each.

Perock, 75, of Woodland Hills formerly worked in rocket operations - not atomics - at the field lab, so he was told in 2002 that he didn't qualify for compensation. Now the Department of Labor is supposed to review his case again.

The second change to the compensation program further expands the number of workers who are eligible. The so-called Part E program, which pays up to $250,000, now includes workers who became sick as a result of exposure to any toxic substance - not just radiation.

``Virtually any type of illness that can be affiliated with a toxic chemical used at the site can be considered,'' Vance said. ``I think there is going to be a significantly larger number of people who are eligible under Part E than Part B.''

Workers must prove they worked at one of the four Department of Energy subcontractor sites and developed an illness that can be linked to chemicals used at the site, or their families must provide the proof.

Roughly 35,000 people nationwide have filed claims under the new program. Officials could not immediately say how many people locally would be eligible.

Former employees can receive up to $250,000, and their spouses or dependent children can receive up to $175,000.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com