DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service 

 National Institute for Occupational 

 Safety and Health 

Robert A. Taft Laboratories

 4676 Columbia Parkway 

Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998 

Phone: 513-533-6825 

Fax: 513-533-6826 

February 23, 2006 

Peter M. Turcic, Director 

Division of Energy Employees Occupational 

 Illness Compensation 

U.S. Department of Labor 

Room C-4511 

200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20210 

Dear Mr. Turcic: 

Thank you for your letter of January 12, 2006 regarding the addition of a class of employees who 

worked at the Linde Ceramics plant from October 1, 1942 through October 31, 1947 to the Special 

Exposure Cohort (SEC). In that letter you indicated that your review of relevant documents 

including “An Exposure Matrix for Linde Ceramics Plant (including Tonawanda Laboratory),” (May 

31, 2005) lead you to conclude that only Buildings 30, 31, 37, and 38 at the Tonawanda site are 

encompassed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services designation of the 

following class for addition to the SEC: 

Atomic weapons employees who worked at the Linde Ceramics Plant 

from October 1, 1942, through October 31, 1947, and who were 

employed for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work 

days either solely under this employment or in combination with work 

days occurring within the parameters (excluding aggregate work day 

requirements) established for other classes of employees included in 

the SEC. 

The Secretary’s designation is not limited to employees who worked in certain buildings at 

this site. Technical Basis Documents and Site Profile Documents, including the Exposure 

Matrix for the Linde site are general working documents that provide guidance concerning 

the preparation of dose reconstructions at particular sites. The use of the term “facility” in 

these documents is specifically distinguished from the meaning of that term in EEOICPA 

(see Introduction, page 10). The fact that the Exposure Matrix for the Linde site enumerates 

certain buildings on the site, describes operations that occurred in those buildings, and 

outlines approaches for completing dose reconstructions that are particularized to job duties 

and work locations is irrelevant to the class of employees designated for addition to the SEC, 

since the Secretary’s designation indicates that data are insufficient to support internal dose 

reconstructions for any covered employee during the period covered by the class designation. 
 

 

 

 

On December 22, 2005, NIOSH provided a breakdown of all of the active Linde Ceramics 

cases that DOL had originally determined had covered employment within the period 

October 1, 1942 to October 31, 1947; one list included only cases with at least one specified 

cancer, and the other list consisted of cases without an obvious specified cancer. On January 

12, 2006, we returned cases with at least one specified cancer (with the analysis record on a 

CD) to the Cleveland District Office. Letters were sent to all claimants whose case was 

returned to DOL, as has been our past practice. 

 Sincerely,

 Larry J. Elliott, MSPH, CIH

 Director

 Office of Compensation 

Analysis and Support