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Hooker Electrochemical

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(Site Profile/Docket Number 193)

Location: Niagara Falls, New York

Also Known As: Hooker Chemical Co., Occidental Chemical Corp., Occidental Chemical Corp., Specialty Chemical Div., Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corp.

Special Exposure Cohort Petition Information

The Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) is a unique category of employees established by The Act (42 CFR Part 83). Claims compensated under the SEC do not have to go through the dose reconstruction process. To qualify for compensation under the SEC, a covered employee must meet specific requirements (e.g., must have at least one of 22 “specified cancers,” and have worked for a specified time period at one of the SEC sites). Classes of employees and work sites can be considered for addition to the SEC through a NIOSH petition process. More information about the Special Exposure Cohort can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Open/Active SEC Petitions

To date, there are no open/active SEC petitions from Hooker Electrochemical.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked at the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation in Niagara Falls, New York, during the operational period from July 1, 1944, through December 31, 1948, 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 in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 141

Classes Not Added to the SEC

  • All employees who worked at any location at the Hooker Electrochemical Corporation during the operational period from January 1, 1943 through June 30, 1944, and during the residual period from January 1, 1949 to December 31, 1976.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 141

Petitions Qualified for Evaluation

Below is a list of the petitions that qualified for evaluation. Select a petition on the list to view the table for that particular petition.

Advisory Board Work Group on Uranium Refining Atomic Weapons Employers (AWEs)–formerly TBD 6001 Work Group

This Work Group reviews technical documents and Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petitions for uranium refining AWEs assigned to it by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. The Work Group makes recommendations to the Board on SEC petitions, reviews reports developed by the Board’s contractor (SC&A), and assists NIOSH and SC&A in resolving issues that arise through the review process.

Sites currently being considered by the Work Group include: General Atomics, Hooker Electrochemical, Reduction Pilot Plant, Westinghouse Electric Corp. (New Jersey), and W.R. Grace (Erwin, TN).

Meeting information (including agendas and transcripts) for this Work Group can be found on either the individual work site pages or on the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page.

Note: Baker-Perkins Co., Du Pont Deepwater Works, Electro Metallurgical Company, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Apollo, Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) – Parks Township, and United Nuclear Corp. were previously discussed by this Work Group, but are not currently under discussion.

Work Group Members:

  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D. (Chair)

  • David Kotelchuck, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.I.H.

  • David Pompa

Meeting Information:

Pre-Decisional Document Policy

Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board’s Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These pre-decisional documents, such as white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. Although discussion during a public meeting may cover pre-decisional documents, these documents often are not further revised or finalized, and thus do not reflect the final determination or evaluation of the Advisory Board and its Work Groups. Additionally, some pre-decisional documents not otherwise posted on the website may contain sensitive information, which would require an interested party to obtain such documents by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the CDC/ATSDR FOIA office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

Technical Documents

If the energy employee’s personal radiation information is incomplete, NIOSH will use other sources to estimate the radiation dose. This may involve using technical documents called Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins.

Technical Basis Documents

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on Hooker Electrochemical

The Hooker Electrochemical discussion papers listed below are working documents prepared by NIOSH or its contractor for use in discussions with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health or its Working Groups or Subcommittees. Draft, preliminary, interim, and white paper documents are not final NIOSH or Advisory Board (or their technical support and review contractors) positions unless specifically marked as such. These documents represent preliminary positions taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH or its contractor.

The discussion papers have been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and have been cleared for distribution.

Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs) and Program Evaluation Reports (PERs)

NIOSH is committed to applying the best available science in dose reconstructions. In keeping with this commitment, completed cases with probabilities of causation less than 50% are reviewed as relevant new information becomes available. The results of these reviews are described in a Program Evaluation Report (PER). The PER details the effect, if any, of the new information on the completed dose reconstruction. If it appears that the new information may result in an increase in dose for a completed dose reconstruction with a probability of causation of less than 50%, NIOSH is committed to working with the Department of Labor to reopen and rework the dose reconstruction, as appropriate. A Program Evaluation Plan (PEP) describes plans for evaluating specific program details or issues.

  • DCAS-PER-081: Hooker Electrochemical [223 KB (3 pages)]
    October 17, 2017

    About this Document: New document to determine the effect of revision 3 to DCAS-TKBS-0009 (Hooker Electrochemical TBD) on previously completed claims.

    Summary: Two claims resulted in a POC greater than 52%. One of these claims appears to qualify for inclusion in the SEC at another site but may need a new dose reconstruction to qualify for some medical benefits. The Department of Labor will be notified of these details and they will determine if a new dose reconstruction is necessary. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated under this PER. Further, NIOSH will request the return of the 2 claims that would now result in a probability of causation greater than 50%.

  • DCAS-PER-038 Rev-0: Program Evaluation Report: Hooker Electrochemical TBD Revisions [177 KB (5 pages)]
    July 24, 2012

    About this Document: site specific appendix to Battelle-TBD-6001 (Appendix AA) was issued 6/15/2007. This was superseded by a stand-alone Technical Basis Document (TBD) on 4/4/2011 (DCAS-TKBS-0009 rev. 0). On 6/16/2011, revision 1 was issued to that document to correct an error. The changes made in revision 1 of the TBD caused external doses to operators to decrease during the operational period. No increase in any doses occurred in revision 1. Revision 0 however, did result in some increased dose when compared to Appendix AA. Therefore, Appendix AA is compared to Revision 1 in this PER in order to itemize the increased dose.

    Summary: As a result of this review, the revisions to the Hooker Electrochemical TBD did not result in the probability of causation of any previously completed claims rising to greater than 50%. A listing of those claims evaluated and their final disposition will be forwarded to the Department of Labor.

Public Comments on Hooker Electrochemical Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Hooker Electrochemical Documents can be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Officer electronically by email at nioshdocket@cdc.gov or printed comments can be mailed to:

NIOSH Docket Office
Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS-C34
1090 Tusculum Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45226
Please include the Site Profile/Docket Number (193) on all comments.

Comments Received

Document Archive for Hooker Electrochemical

  • Technical Basis Document for the Hooker Electrochemical Company

    • Revised December 8, 2015 [367 KB (23 pages)]

      About this Document: Includes information about a Special Exposure Cohort designation for Hooker. Incorporates changes due to new information describing the operations at Hooker.

    • June 17, 2011 [194 KB (16 pages)]

      About this Document: Corrected errors in Tables 2, 3, and 6. Renumbered tables after Table 4. Added language on page 10 to indicate the 95th percentile of the airborne values was used. Corrected typographical error on page 7 and 14.

    • April 4, 2011 [194 KB (16 pages)]

      About this Document: Changes Battelle-TBD-6001 Appendix to a standalone document. Revises dose models to eliminate dependence on Battelle-TBD-6001. Provides more detailed description of dose models. Incorporates review comments.

  • Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Refined Uranium and Thorium [3.5 MB (75 pages)]
    December 13, 2006

    About this Document: This technical basis is established for the reconstruction of radiation doses of workers at AWE sites which refined uranium under contract to the United States government from 1942 to 1958. This document covers the generic aspects of uranium refining and the data are useful where no other dosimetry data exist. Site specific appendices are included that provide information that apply to only the identified site.