Town Hall-style Meeting May 3 for Former Metals & Controls and Texas Instruments Workers with U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III and the U.S. Labor Department

ATTLEBORO - U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III and the U.S. Labor Department will hold a town hall-style meeting May 3 for former Metals & Controls and Texas Instruments workers who became ill after working at the Forest Street industrial complex that once made nuclear fuel.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Attleboro branch of Bristol Community College at the site of the former Metals & Controls plant.

Kennedy, D-Newton, will be present for the event, his office confirmed.

Thousands of factory workers labored at the industrial campus, which manufactured nuclear fuel for the Navy and other customers from 1952 to 1981.

Hundreds were diagnosed with cancer either while employed or after leaving jobs at the complex.

Although only a small part of the plant was used for nuclear manufacturing, the Attleboro site has been classified by the federal government as a former "atomic weapons employer."

Fuel manufactured at the site was used in nuclear submarines and government research reactors.

Texas Instruments, which conducted a major environmental cleanup of the site in the late 1990s, sold its Attleboro-based business in 2005. Many of the buildings have been converted to new uses for manufacturing, offices and to house branches of Bristol Community College and Bridgewater State University.

The Sun Chronicle documented in a series of reports that more than 300 former Metals & Controls and TI workers suffering from cancer received more than $30 million in payments and medical benefits under a special Labor Department program. The program is to compensate nuclear defense employees who became ill because of their work.

Some of the former plant workers interviewed by The Sun Chronicle reported contracting multiple cancers and having lost co-workers and family members who worked at the plant.

However, the newspaper found little was done to reach out to ex-employees - many of them senior citizens - to inform them how could get help with their cancers.

As a result, Kennedy raised the issue at a congressional hearing eliciting a pledge by Texas Instruments to reach out to its former workers.

The company later sent out more than 2,000 letters informing ex-employees how to apply under the government program.

A spokeswoman for Kennedy's office said the May 3 meeting is intended to provide information to the public and former atomic workers who believe they might have developed cancer as a consequence of their work. It will also include information about how and where to apply for compensation.

The meeting is also open to families with members who might have died or been affected by work-related cancer.

Other cold war sites in the Attleboro area and around Massachusetts were involved in nuclear weapons manufacturing during the 1950s and '60s, some of which remain contaminated with dangerous nuclear and chemical residue.

The former Engelhard Industries plant in Plainville made nuclear fuel for the Navy during the 1950s, but is still not fully decontaminated, although most traces of atomic residue were removed in the early '60s. The Environmental Protection Agency is supervising cleanup efforts, mostly involving chemical contamination.

The former D.E. Makepeace plant at the corner of Pine and Dunham Streets in Attleboro was also licensed during the 1950s to use uranium and other products associated with nuclear manufacturing. However the EPA was unable to find any indication of elevated radiation during detailed examinations of the site.

The former manufacturing plant has since been turned into housing for senior citizens.

who became ill after working at the Forest Street industrial complex that once made nuclear fuel.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Attleboro branch of Bristol Community College at the site of the former Metals & Controls plant.

Kennedy, D-Newton, will be present for the event, his office confirmed.

Thousands of factory workers labored at the industrial campus, which manufactured nuclear fuel for the Navy and other customers from 1952 to 1981.

Hundreds were diagnosed with cancer either while employed or after leaving jobs at the complex.

Although only a small part of the plant was used for nuclear manufacturing, the Attleboro site has been classified by the federal government as a former "atomic weapons employer."

Fuel manufactured at the site was used in nuclear submarines and government research reactors.

Texas Instruments, which conducted a major environmental cleanup of the site in the late 1990s, sold its Attleboro-based business in 2005. Many of the buildings have been converted to new uses for manufacturing, offices and to house branches of Bristol Community College and Bridgewater State University.

The Sun Chronicle documented in a series of reports that more than 300 former Metals & Controls and TI workers suffering from cancer received more than $30 million in payments and medical benefits under a special Labor Department program. The program is to compensate nuclear defense employees who became ill because of their work.

Some of the former plant workers interviewed by The Sun Chronicle reported contracting multiple cancers and having lost co-workers and family members who worked at the plant.

However, the newspaper found little was done to reach out to ex-employees - many of them senior citizens - to inform them how could get help with their cancers.

As a result, Kennedy raised the issue at a congressional hearing eliciting a pledge by Texas Instruments to reach out to its former workers.

The company later sent out more than 2,000 letters informing ex-employees how to apply under the government program.

A spokeswoman for Kennedy's office said the May 3 meeting is intended to provide information to the public and former atomic workers who believe they might have developed cancer as a consequence of their work. It will also include information about how and where to apply for compensation.

The meeting is also open to families with members who might have died or been affected by work-related cancer.

Other cold war sites in the Attleboro area and around Massachusetts were involved in nuclear weapons manufacturing during the 1950s and '60s, some of which remain contaminated with dangerous nuclear and chemical residue.

The former Engelhard Industries plant in Plainville made nuclear fuel for the Navy during the 1950s, but is still not fully decontaminated, although most traces of atomic residue were removed in the early '60s. The Environmental Protection Agency is supervising cleanup efforts, mostly involving chemical contamination.

The former D.E. Makepeace plant at the corner of Pine and Dunham Streets in Attleboro was also licensed during the 1950s to use uranium and other products associated with nuclear manufacturing. However the EPA was unable to find any indication of elevated radiation during detailed examinations of the site.

The former manufacturing plant has since been turned into housing for senior citizens.