After 26 years, Roger Fowler finally has hope. The retired General Electric worker, who believes his cancer was caused by the two decades he spent working among toxic chemicals in the companyâs Peterborough plant, received a call late last week saying his WSIB claim is being reviewed. But the roller-coaster ride heâs been on since the 1990s â having his claim turned down, being rejected again on appeal, then informed he would get a review, only to be told no because of the previous rejection â means the 71-year-old is still wary. Read more: Ailing GE Peterborough workers still waiting for justice, group saysGE Peterborough plant was a symbol of opportunity. But did it make workers sick?WSIB to review more than 250 General Electric plant claims in PeterboroughâAfter what Iâve been through, you canât trust anybody until you see it in writing, or somebody calls me and says, âYou are in,â â Fowler said in a telephone interview. âIâm worried in a hopeful way. Iâm really nervous.âFowler, a colorectal cancer survivor who worked at the plant for 22 years, is among hundreds of former employees between 1945 and 2000 who say their cancer or serious illness was a result of exposure to thousands of chemicals at the site.Their claims for compensation were earlier dismissed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. But in recent months, new research has found they were exposed to the toxic substances at unsafe levels â and about 40 of those chemicals have been linked to cancer â so the board decided to reconsider some 250 cases that had previously been denied.The WSIB has since looked at 16 of those cases, and so far 10 of them have been overturned, with six denials upheld. The rest of the 250 claimants have been told to expect letters in the mail this week as the reviews get underway.âItâs taken a while to get to this point, but I think weâre doing it the right ...
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