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Forgotten victims of uranium mining

Shades of hope for uranium’s forgotten victims — The Daily Climate, by Nathan Rice, 28 June 2010 “………. as the uranium industry revives in the West, health problems from the last boom still plague communities, and victims are still fighting for recognition………..Like many past uranium workers and residents in the American West, Hayes has fallen through the cracks of federal compensation programs designed to help those affected by uranium. Of the 25 federally recognized uranium illnesses, eight qualify for compensation. His isn’t one of them.  ……. widespread health impacts from the last uranium boom still plague communities around the West, and victims are still fighting for recognition.Help may be on the way. A bill introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) would expand the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, making it easier for uranium workers and residents downwind from nuclear test sites to get federal cash and medical help. ………

As vice-president of the Post-71 Uranium Exposure Committee, Evers has documented the health impacts of her fellow victims and lobbied Congress for compensation. A study conducted by the group found uranium-related health problems in 72 percent of more than 1,000 New Mexico uranium workers who had started working after the 1971 cutoff.

“All of this comes right back to our radiation exposure,” Evers said. “Nuclear power is not clean. It is devastating out here to the water, the environment, the people. You take it to your nuclear plants and it runs all clean and pretty there, but you don’t see the devastation that comes with getting it out of the ground.”

“For a lot of families, it’s life and death,” Evers continued. “It just angers me that these people have been ignored for so long.”

The new bill would finally compensate those so-called “post-71” workers. “This [bill] would be a blessing to so many folks in the uranium-impacted world,” said Evers…………But many who may have been affected by uranium sit outside the bill’s reach – such as Evers’ children. Her son was born with a digestive abnormality that almost led to starvation before surgery at two months old. Her daughter was born without hips and developed a bone disease in adulthood. A study of the nearby Shiprock area found increased birth defects near uranium sites, suggesting a wider trend. Others throughout the Southwest’s uranium country have similar tales. ………….

No compensation is allocated for the many family members and residents of uranium communities who may have been exposed to uranium without ever entering a mill or a mine.

The new bill would provide $15 million to study the connection between uranium and illness in non-working residents and families. If a population-level trend is found, it could potentially lead to help in some future RECA bill. But studies take time – something that many sick uranium victims don’t have.

Shades of hope for uranium’s forgotten victims — The Daily Climate

June 29, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA | antinuclear, cancer, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, radioactive, reactors, uranium