The U.S. Department of Justice has detailed its complaints about a new Washington state law that makes it easier for Hanford Site personnel to have their workers’ compensation claims approved. The Justice Department filed a motion for summary judgment late on March 1 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington state, asking that the court declare the state law invalid.
The Justice Department sued Washington state in December over the new law, claiming it discriminates against the federal government by holding it to a stricter standard than other employers in the state. The federal agency said that was a clear violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, making it a matter the judge could decide without the case going to trial.
The Department of Energy, which owns Hanford, was silent as the state Legislature debated and passed the new law. But the recent court filing and associated documents say DOE’s burden of proof to have a claim denied is difficult to meet, that the list of covered diseases is too vague, and that the new law will prove costly for the federal government.
The new law requires the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries to assume a wide range of illnesses were caused by working at Hanford. The Energy Department can oppose the claim with “clear and convincing” evidence of a hereditary, lifestyle, or other non-Hanford cause for the illness.
Hanford workers can spend as little as eight hours at a Hanford work area, such as the Central Plateau or the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, to qualify for state compensation.
The list of covered illnesses is not well defined, according to the Department of Justice. It could be interpreted to apply to hundreds of commonly occurring illnesses, including asthma, chronic bronchitis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke.
A DOE working group that attempted to determine how many workers would be covered under the new law came up with a conservative estimate of more than 100,000 past and current workers for Hanford contractors and subcontractors, which does not include future workers. Employees who work directly for DOE are not covered by the new law.
