AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios, File
The Biden administration is leading a Supreme Court fight over expanded benefits for workers at a nuclear waste site — even as the president has pledged to address the risks of toxic exposures and heralded new efforts to expand access to cancer treatment.
On April 18, the justices are scheduled to hear oral arguments in United States v. Washington. The administration will argue for the high court to overturn a state law that makes it easier for federal contract workers at the Department of Energy’s decommissioned Hanford Site in Benton County, Wash., to access workers’ compensation benefits.
Washington state Rep. Gerry Pollet (D), the co-sponsor of the law at the heart of the legal fight, said it was “very disappointing” to see the Biden administration bring the matter to the nation’s highest bench.
“In this case, the Energy Department is essentially saying, ‘We want to go back to a system where we can fight every claim,'” Pollet told E&E News in a recent interview.
The Supreme Court challenge comes as President Biden has touted his administration’s work to address toxic exposure and cancer risk, particularly among military veterans.
“The [Department of Veterans Affairs] is pioneering new ways of linking toxic exposures to disease, already helping more veterans to get benefits,” Biden told Congress during his first State of the Union address earlier this month.
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