The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has been a lifeline for some people and families exposed to toxins associated with decades of nuclear weapons testing, but advocates say more people should receive compensation. claims.
The law, first enacted in 1990 and set to expire this year, has provided payments to people who may have contracted certain cancers and diseases as a result of the effort to build the first atomic bomb.
“This goes back to the Manhattan Project and the Cold War, when the government’s nuclear program was actually made possible by the workers who went into the mines and processed the uranium. They were exposed to this nuclear radiation. But they didn’t,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.
[1945年から1962年にかけて、米国は200回近くの大気圏内での核兵器実験を実施した。西部全域でウラン採掘のために何千人もの労働者が雇われ、他の労働者は試験場で働いた。放射線被ばく補償法はこれらの労働者の多くをカバーしたが、他の場所の研究所や製油所で働く人々は除外された。
中国との「冷戦」に勝つために米国が「つかみ取るべき」2つの主要な攻撃戦略を外交政策専門家が明らかに
放射線被ばく補償法は特定の州の被害者に適用されるが、その適用を拡大しようとする動きがある。 （フォックス・ニュース）
ホーリー氏は、「政府が被曝させた被害者らは政府から補償を受けていない」と述べた。
ホーリー氏は、アラスカ州、ケンタッキー州、テネシー州、そして故郷のミズーリ州などでの支払いの延長と拡大に取り組んでいる。
ホーリー氏は「政府による核処理や放射線実験の範囲は分からなかった」と述べた。 「政府は彼らを暴露した。彼らはそのせいで病気になった。そしてこの法律の役割は、彼らが全治まではいかなくても、少なくとも回復するために必要な治療やその他の費用援助を受けられるようにすることである」この国のための彼らの犠牲を何らかの形で埋め合わせたのです。」
セントルイスでは、マンハッタン計画の化学物質への曝露範囲は、精製や試験が行われた場所をはるかに超えて広がっている。
「マンハッタン計画時代にセントルイスにあったウラン処理施設が閉鎖された後、政府は廃棄物を適切に、あるいはまったく処分しなかった」とホーリー氏は語った。
文書によると、作業員が長年にわたって化学物質を3つの別々の現場に運び、その一部がセントルイス州ノース郡全体を流れる小川に漏洩したことが明らかになった。
コールドウォータークリーク近くで雪を食べる子供（日付不明の写真）。 (ケイ・ドレイ・マリンクロット・コレクション)
「私は狼瘡を患っており、乾癬性関節炎やその他の自己免疫疾患も患っています」とジャスト・マムズSTL創設者のカレン・ニッケル氏は語った。 彼女はノースカウンティで育ち、その地域で子供たちを育てました。 彼女は、彼らもまた、この地域の放射性廃棄物に関連する病気に苦しんでいると述べた。
「エリテマトーデスは環境誘因である。彼らはそれが何らかの放射線と関連していることを知っている」とニッケル氏は語った。
ミズーリ州下院議員、民主党のシャンテル・ニクソン＝クラークもノース郡で育った。 彼女は、がんの既往歴のある家系に生まれ、二度乳がんを経験しているが、環境への曝露が病気の一因となっている可能性があると信じていると語った。
「データが反映しているように、具体的なことは何もありません。家族全員が癌に罹患しているだけの家族の出身である私たちは、次のように信じています。 [chemical exposure] That’s a contributing factor,” Nixon-Clark said.
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Nickell and Nixon Clark both lived near Coldwater Creek. After years of testing, it was determined that radioactive chemicals were present in the water and spread across the riverbed along the waterway.
State Rep. Chantel Nixon-Clark of Missouri said she believes exposure to chemicals may have contributed to cancer in her family. (Chantelle Nixon-Clark)
“This is not a small stream. This is more like a small river,” Nickel said.
A 2019 health assessment by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that exposure to streams may pose an increased risk of developing certain cancers.
“Further testing is needed,” Hawley said. “I’ve been saying for years that the Corps needs to experiment across the floodplain.”
The creek was a frequent playground before it became known to be dangerous.
“In the 1950s, people went out there and built homes. It was a great suburban area,” Hawley said.
Nickell said his parents chose to live in this neighborhood because it was a good place to raise a family.
“There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood, and they would spend time there from sun to sun in the park and play in the stream,” Nickel recalled.
A child rides on a swing near Coldwater Creek (undated photo). (Kay Dray Mallinckrodt Collection)
Decades later, Nickell said he and his family weren’t the only ones suffering from the disease.
“More and more people are dying from things like rare cancers, and the number of diseases and autoimmune diseases is astronomical,” Nickel said.
Nickell and neighbor Dawn Chapman have been working together to learn more about radioactive waste in the area. They founded the organization Just Moms STL to inform others about toxic places near their homes.
Karen Nickel (right) calls for increased awareness of hazardous locations near certain homes. (Dawn Chapman)
“Unlike Karen, I didn’t grow up next door to this,” Chapman said. “It was amazing to see how many people were getting sick and to look back at the community I grew up in. That had never happened before.”
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Chapman and Nickel both purchased homes near one of the locations where the radioactive chemicals ultimately ended up. Both women said they had no idea the waste was there until an underground fire near the site started burning.
“The longer this fire continues to burn, the more unstable the ground becomes where the fire is burning, giving the fire the ability to move, so we’re in a race against time,” Chapman said. Told.
She added that she first learned about the fire at the Westlake Landfill in 2013.
“For a little while, I was smelling something,” she said, “like cutting onions. That’s what happened with our eyes. It felt like a very intense burning sensation. God, what is happening to me? ”
Chapman said she called the Department of Natural Resources.
“He started talking about the Manhattan Project and radioactive waste and was worried there would be a fire,” Chapman said.
Children playing near Coldwater Creek (undated photo). (Kay Dray Mallinckrodt Collection)
The fire has been burning for over 10 years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that crews installed isolation walls to isolate the waste from the fire.
“The system they installed is able to capture some of the smoke and other things and pass it through the isolation barrier into the treatment system. So there is no human exposure at this time,” said EPA Region 7 Superfund and Emergency Management. said Bob Jurgens of the department. the director said.
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Still, many residents and lawmakers question why it takes so long to clean up places like the Westlake Landfill and Coldwater Creek. They also continue to seek compensation for those who live near these locations and become ill.
“The government did all of this. The government put these hardships on these workers,” Hawley said. “These working people, they are the heroes of this story.”
