A crowd of former nuclear workers gathered at the first annual Home Town Heroes Reunion.
BEN OVERBY | For The Sun
PADUCAH — United Energy Workers Healthcare held the first Home Town Heroes reunion for former nuclear workers in the region on Friday Aug. 22.
The event, held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Paducah-McCracken Co. Convention & Expo Center, provided a free lunch, prize opportunities, and health benefits information to a packed room of former nuclear employees. Organizers plan to hold the event annually.
Laura Griffith, UEW Healthcare’s Regional Director for Paducah, said that the company had over 500 RSVPs for the reunion.
“They sacrificed their health, essentially for our country working out at the plant, and they deserve the health benefit from it,” Laura Griffith, United Energy Workers Healthcare’s Regional Director for Paducah, said.
BEN OVERBY | For The Sun
“Really, it’s a celebration for them,” Griffith said. “We want to show our appreciation for all of our patients and all of the workers — for the work that they’ve done — It’s also a way for us to provide resources for them so that they are able to fully understand their EEOICPA benefits. I think that sometimes they don’t fully understand all that’s available for them, and so we work really hard to help them understand that and fulfill the full amount of their benefits that they can achieve.”
EEOICPA refers to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, a program through the Department of Labor that provides compensation and medical benefits for Department of Energy who have developed qualifying illnesses due to toxic exposure. Beneficiaries of the program receive a healthcare benefits card called a white card. The informational meeting addressed what a white card is and how to begin the claims process, what is covered by the card, and how to maximize EEOICPA benefits.
“They sacrificed their health, essentially for our country working out at the plant, and they deserve the health benefit from it,” Griffith said. “It helps to provide reimbursement for medications, for doctor’s visits, for scans and also, in our case, for United Energy Workers, their home health care. It helps them to live a more fulfilled life. It helps them to live longer.”
Griffith said that UEW Healthcare has been operating in Paducah for over 10 years, providing home healthcare and nursing services for people with EEOICPA benefits.
“I think they’ll do their best to protect the workers now, it’s not like it used to be,” former employee at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant David Egner said, referring to future nuclear projects planned for the Paducah Department of Energy site.
BEN OVERBY | For The Sun
One attendee, David Egner, spent over 27 years at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant working on overheard cranes, roll-up doors, and mechanical gates. Egner said that he has a white card for breathing issues, but is hoping to expand his benefits to accommodate trouble walking as well. He said he came to the meeting to see some of the people he worked with at the plant and hear the informational portion.
Despite the health issues Egner has faced from his time working at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant, he said he is glad that nuclear projects are returning to the site. He said that he thinks the sites will create good jobs for young people, and that he hopes and believes that nuclear safety has improved since his time working in the industry.
“I think they’ll do their best to protect the workers now, it’s not like it used to be,” Egner said. “When I started out there, they told you you could eat the stuff and it wouldn’t hurt you. We found out different.”