Department of Labor officials will visit Richland July 9 and 10 to talk about eased requirements for ill Hanford workers or their survivors who are applying for compensation that includes $150,000 and reimbursement for medical costs.

The new requirements are included in a special exposure cohort expected to be finalized in early July. It would cover workers in Hanford's 300 Area just north of Richland from September 1946 through 1961. It also would cover workers in the 200 East Area and 200 West Area of central Hanford from 1949 through 1968.

Workers in those areas exposed to radiation would automatically be compensated if they developed any of a wide range of cancers. Without the special exposure cohort, workers only could be compensated if the federal government determined there was at least a 50 percent chance that an individual's estimated exposure to radiation caused the cancer.

Workers whose claims were previously denied now may be eligible for compensation because the federal government has determined it cannot accurately estimate their exposure to radiation from special isotope programs.

The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. July 9 and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. July 10 at the Red Lion Hotel in Richland. Staff will be available to help former workers or their survivors file claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. For more information, call 888-654-0014 or 946-3333.