Washington – The U.S. Senate on Monday voted down an amendment from Colorado’s two senators that would have provided $15 million in extended medical benefits for Rocky Flats cleanup workers.
Some employees lost out on retirement medical coverage when they finished the cleanup project at the former nuclear weapons plant 15 months ahead of schedule.
Senators voted 38 for and 53 against the amendment to a bill providing funding to the Defense Department.
About 75 workers at the site became ineligible for benefits because they finished the cleanup a year early.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said that early cleanup saved taxpayers $500 million.
“The senator is very disappointed,” said Angela de Rocha, spokeswoman for Allard. “He felt like he fought the good fight.”
The Department of Energy had opposed the provision.
Allard said workers such as Doug Woodard and Leo Chavez “now find themselves with either severely reduced benefits or no benefits at all.”
“Doug started work at Rocky Flats all the way back in 1982 and was responsible for monitoring radiation contamination at the site. He missed qualifying for medical benefits by less than two months,” Allard said.
“For Leo Chavez, who worked at Rocky Flats for 17 years, the Department of Energy’s treatment was even worse. The Department of Energy thanked him for his service and showed him to the door six working days before he qualified for lifetime medical benefits.”
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., co- sponsored the bill.
“This amendment would have ensured that we didn’t punish those who have served our nation well and faithfully, at significant sacrifice to themselves and their families,” Salazar said.
