In 2018, Washington passed a law to help workers sickened at the state's decommissioned nuclear facility, known as the Hanford Site, to make it easier to get workers' compensation.

Cascade PBS reporter, Lizz Giordano, tells us how the Department of Energy frequently fights workers' claims, and workers say, drags them through a long appeals process.

After nearly two decades of work at Hanford, Lonnie Rouse was diagnosed with brain damage caused by exposure to toxins in 2009.

Rouse's workers' compensation claim was initially denied, but then it was approved after a 2018 state law shifted the burden to the Department of Energy to show a worker's illness wasn't caused by exposure at the site.

Twenty appeals later, the DOE is still fighting his claim and warns he may have to pay the federal government back if it wins.

For people who are getting really hurt and sick out there, they need to help take care of us.

It's their responsibility to take care of the people who helped them.

Rouse isn't alone.

Workers, lawyers and politicians describe a pattern.

The DOE tries to reject a claim, and when that fails, appeals.

The DOE has argued that factors other than work at Hanford caused the illnesses, including smoking, drinking and obesity.

But our investigation with ProPublica found the DOE hasn't recommended approving any of the 102 claims filed over the past three and a half years, according to the latest state data.

The state, which has final say, approved three fourths of those.

We have seen tremendous pushback from DOE.

The DOE has filed more than 500 appeals since the law passed in 2018.

A DOE spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is committed to worker safety.

I'm Lizz Giordano, Cascade PBS.

Next time, we'll hear more about a central Washington man's health journey after years of working at the state's decommissioned nuclear site.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thanks for watching The Newsfeed.