In the News

U.S. House Resolution No. 10115 would expand the original Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include, for the first time in history, the state of Colorado (as a downwind area) and specifically by name the Cotter Mill and Rocky Flats (as “Manhattan Project Waste” sites), as well as numerous sites across the nation.

It was introduced Aug. 17 by Del. James Moylan (Guam), co-led by Rep. Brittany Pettersen and co-sponsored by 13 other bipartisan representatives. If passed, it would mean one-time lump-sum payments of $150,000 to eligible citizens.

The original RECA of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush, contained the formal statement that Congress “apologizes on behalf of the nation” to individuals who were involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease from nuclear testing and uranium mining to serve the national security interests of the United States. It provided one-time lump-sum $50,00 – $100,000 financial compensation to individuals who developed specific cancers and serious diseases from radiation exposure.

Work continued under the Clinton Administration, and in 1995  President Clinton delivered a historic national apology after then Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary declassified thousands of top-secret government documents and the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments exposed the human costs of nuclear development for defense and energy, including Manhattan Project documents.  That RECA compensation served for 34 years. It expired in 2024 (regardless of the fact the radioactive contamination is here until the end of time).

Then politics was played with RECA and a new version was included in the Trump Administration’s Big-Beautiful-Bill and set the filing date to expire again on Dec. 31, 2027. This version represented the biggest expansion of RECA in its history, including new downwind, uranium industry, and nuclear production sites for the first time.

But it was also less-than-adequate, because it excluded several other ‘downwinder’ states and Manhattan Project Waste sites like Cotter Mill and Rocky Flats in Colorado; and, as I said, filing is set to expire Dec. 31, 2027, after which the national apology compensation will end (even though the radioactive contamination is here until the end of time).

There has never been any compensation for, or even health monitoring of, the victims of radiosensitive diseases due to contamination released in the Colorado environment. H.R. No. 10115 would rectify that.

Other communities covered by RECA, such as in New Mexico and Missouri, have seen significant positive economic impact from the coverage for individuals, families and communities. It effectively pumps additional federal money into local economies. A theoretical RECA claimant cohort of 500 eligible people in Cañon City and surrounding areas would lead directly to $75 million infused into local residents’ budgets and the local economy. This is a compelling consequence of this bill’s passage to be considered by local leaders in radiation-exposed communities like Cañon City and Fremont County.

Our community is still living with the 43-year-old active Lincoln Park/Cotter Superfund Site, and residents deserve the compensation and health monitoring of this expanded RECA bill. If it passes, applications can be made on behalf of deceased family members.

Be bold and ask your elected officials to support this bill, and thank you, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, for your support of this proposed policy.