HHS Designation of Additional Members of the 

Special Exposure Cohort 

under the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 

Designating a Class of Employees from 

Lake Ontario Ordnance Works 

Niagara Falls, New York 

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: 

Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York 
I. Designation 

I, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, designate the class 

of employees defined in Section II of this report for addition to the Special Exposure 

Cohort (SEC), as authorized under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), 42 U.S.C. § 7384q. 

 ____September 29, 2009___ ___[Signature on File]_____ 

 Date Kathleen Sebelius

II. Employee Class Definition 

All employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and 

subcontractors who worked at Lake Ontario Ordnance Works in Niagara 

Falls, New York, from January 1, 1944 through December 31, 1953, for a 

number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either 

solely under this employment, or in combination with work days within the 

parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included 

in the SEC. 

III. Designation Criteria and Recommendations 

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, for the class defined in Section II of this report, the 

Secretary has determined, and the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health 

(Board) has recommended, that 

(1) it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the 

class received; and 

(2) there is a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have 

endangered the health of members of the class. 

The SEC final rule states in 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1) that it is feasible in two situations 

to estimate the radiation dose that the class received with sufficient accuracy. First, 

the rule states that radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient accuracy if 

NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to estimate the 

maximum radiation dose for every type of cancer for which radiation doses are 

reconstructed that could have been incurred under plausible circumstances by any 

member of the class. Alternatively, radiation doses may be estimated with sufficient 

accuracy if NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to 

estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more precisely than a 

maximum dose estimate. 

The Board, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, advised the Secretary to designate the 

class as an addition to the SEC in a letter received by the Secretary on August 31, 

2009. 

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: 

Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York 

Page 2
IV. Designation Findings 

Feasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses with Sufficient Accuracy

The Secretary established the feasibility determination for the class of employees 

covered by this report based upon the findings summarized below. 

 NIOSH determined that members of this class may have received radiation 

exposures from internal and external radiation sources. 

 NIOSH lacks sufficient information, which includes biological monitoring data, 

sufficient air monitoring information, and sufficient process and radiological 

source information that would allow it to estimate the potential internal and 

external radiation exposures to which the proposed class may have been 

exposed, with the exception of external exposure to monitored workers from 

1949 through 1953. In addition, NIOSH has determined that it is feasible to 

reconstruct occupational medical dose for Lake Ontario Ordnance Works 

(LOOW) workers with sufficient accuracy. 

 Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1), NIOSH determined that there is insufficient 

information to either: (1) estimate the maximum radiation dose, for every type of 

cancer for which radiation doses are reconstructed, that could have been 

incurred under plausible circumstances by any member of the class; or (2) 

estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more precisely than a 

maximum dose estimate. 

 The Board concurred with the NIOSH evaluation and recommended the 

proposed class for addition to the SEC..

 Although NIOSH found that it is not possible to completely reconstruct radiation 

doses for employees working at LOOW prior to 1954, with the exception of 

external exposure to monitored workers from 1949 through 1953, NIOSH intends 

to use any internal and external monitoring data that may be available for an 

individual claim (and that can be interpreted using existing NIOSH dose 

reconstruction processes or procedures). Furthermore, NIOSH has determined 

that occupational medical dose for all workers can be reconstructed. Therefore, 

dose reconstructions may be performed using these data, as appropriate, for 

individuals with non-presumptive cancers or fewer than 250 work days 

employment during the class period. 

 Health Endangerment

The Secretary established the health endangerment determination for the class of 

employees covered by this report based upon the findings summarized below. 

(1) Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3), NIOSH established that there is a 

reasonable likelihood that such radiation doses may have endangered the 

health of members of the class. Pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii), 

NIOSH specified a minimum duration of employment to satisfy this health 

HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: 

Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York 

Page 3
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Designation: 

Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York 

Page 4

(2) NIOSH did not identify any evidence from the petitioners or from other 

resources that would establish that the class was exposed to radiation during 

a discrete incident likely to have involved exceptionally high-level exposures, 

such as a nuclear criticality incident, as defined under 42 C.F.R. § 

83.13(c)(3)(i). 

(3) The Board concurred with NIOSH’s finding that the health of the class may 

have been endangered and defined the class according to the 250-work day 

requirement specified under 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(3)(ii). 

V. Effect and Effective Date of Designation 

The Secretary submits this report on the designation of one additional class to the 

SEC for review by Congress, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 7384l(14)(C)(ii) and 

7384q(c)(2)(A), as amended by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-375 (codified as amended in 

scattered sections of 42 U.S.C.). Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384l(14)(C)(ii), as 

amended by the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-375 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 42 

U.S.C.), the designation in this report will become effective 30 days after the date of 

this report’s submission to Congress “unless Congress otherwise provides.” 

VI. VI. Administrative Review of Designation 

The health endangerment determination of the designation provided in this report 

may be subject to an administrative review within HHS, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 

83.18(a). On the basis of such a review, if the Secretary decides to expand the class 

of employees covered by this designation, the Secretary would transmit a 

supplementary report to Congress providing the expanded employee class definition 

and the criteria and findings on which the decision was based.