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Colorado's congressional delegation believes a new president might help the chances that former workers at the old Rocky Flats will get compensation. The plant north of Golden made nuclear weapons components until 1991. Workers say they suffered from cancer and other illnesses. They were denied compensation but the Health and Human Services Department is considering an appeal.

When Peter and Michelle Vassiliou bought their luxury, waterfront house in one of Sydney's most expensive suburbs, they looked forward to turning it into their dream home. Seven years later their dreams are lying in radioactive dust after they discovered that that their home, in upmarket Hunter's Hill is so contaminated by uranium that it is unfit to live in. Tests on soil next to their bedroom showed radiation levels 350 times higher than that considered safe.

Local workers who may have earned illnesses dating back to the Cold War were able to learn more about possible compensation Wednesday and Thursday. The U.S. Department of Labor visited Pittsburg, to provide information about a new class of former employees at Spencer Chemical Co./Jayhawk Works recently added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act's (EEOICPA) Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). The department's Traveling Resource Center staff was also available to assist individuals with filing claims under the EEOICPA.

U.S. Labor Department reaches $5 billion in benefits paid and 8th anniversary of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that it has paid more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to more than 52,600 claimants nationwide under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This milestone coincides with the eighth anniversary of the Labor Department's administration of the EEOICPA, which provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. "I am proud to announce that the Labor Department has delivered more than $5 billion in compensation and medical benefits to deserving workers and their families during the eight years it has administered the EEOICPA," said Shelby Hallmark, acting assistant secretary of labor for employment standards. "The department is dedicated to carrying out the vital mission of this program: getting compensation and medical benefits to eligible workers and their survivors as quickly and consistently as possible. We will continue to strengthen the adjudication process, our outreach efforts and claimant services in order to carry out the EEOICPA in a manner that is consistent with the law as enacted by Congress."