Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. “Unknowing, Unwilling, and Uncompensated: The Effects of the Trinity Test on New Mexicans and the Potential Benefits of Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments.” Feb. 2017.
Summary
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) is a federal law originally passed by the United States Congress in 1990 to award financial reparations to Nevada Test Site Downwinders, on-site test participants during atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, and uranium miners and millers who developed cancer and/or other specific illnesses as a result of radioactive fallout or radon gasses to which they were exposed. Trinity test downwinders in New Mexico were not included in the original Act nor were they included in year 2000 amendments to the Act. Residents of southern New Mexico, in particular, have historically experienced high levels of cancer and other illnesses since the 1945 test. Currently proposed amendments to the Act would include the Trinity test downwinders and potentially award them reparations to account for their unknowing and unwilling participation as bystanders to the Trinity test on July 16, 1945, which was the first atmospheric nuclear test ever to occur in the world.
In southern New Mexico, four counties have been primarily affected, as evidenced by high rates of cancer, including rare cancers, and other illnesses, such as thyroid disease. The four counties include Lincoln, Otero, Sierra, and Socorro. Individuals who were at higher risk for developing cancer due to radioactive fallout include, but are not limited to: persons living within 150 miles of the Trinity test site on July 16, 1945; persons who ate game and/or livestock that were exposed to radioactive fallout from the test; persons who drank milk that came from livestock (cows and goats) that were exposed to radioactive fallout; persons who drank water gathered in cisterns that had been poisoned by radioactive fallout; persons who ate food grown in soil that was exposed to radioactive fallout; and descendants of persons from the previous categories whose genetic composition was altered through hereditary DNA changes and/or by consuming or otherwise being exposed to radioactive fallout.
In 2015, New Mexico Representative Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM-3) introduced House of Representatives Bill 994 (HR 994), the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2015,” which included the Trinity test downwinders in compensatory efforts. New Mexico Representatives Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM-1) and Steve Pearce (R-NM-2) co-sponsored the bill. New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich co- sponsored Senate Bill 331 (S. 331), the companion bill in the Senate. The bills had 11 original sponsors and 13 co-sponsors at the end of the 2015-2016 legislative session, a total of 24 Congressional members from across the country supporting its passage.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) recognizes that Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) recently introduced Senate Bill 197 (S. 197), “A bill to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes,” for the 2017-2018 legislative session, with Senators from Colorado and Idaho. We understand a companion bill will soon be introduced in the House.