Restitution overdue for NM radiation exposure

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) is on a mission of justice for all families affected by the atomic bomb testing at the Trinity Site in 1945. The federal government failed to warn the people that they would be exposed to high levels of radiation due to the fallout from above-ground nuclear testing. No one in New Mexico has been compensated, though people in Nevada, Arizona and Utah have been paid more than $2.25 billion. What’s more, they receive a health care coverage card that entitles them to the best health care around with no copayments, deductibles or limits. This kind of health coverage would save lives of the many people living with radiation-caused cancers in rural New Mexico.

Tina Cordova, co–founder of the TBDC, among others testified in Washington at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 27. She gave a touching and compelling testimony about the generations of families who are struggling with cancer because of the effects of the Trinity test.

Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich are co-sponsoring a bill to expand eligibility for payouts under the Radiation Exposure & Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990 to the Downwinders of New Mexico. This is long overdue, and our people of New Mexico have continued to suffer physically, emotionally and financially because of this huge injustice

We must all stand up for truth and justice. We must all support the efforts of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, which is standing up for the unknowing, unwilling and uncompensated New Mexicans whose lives have forever been changed because of the effects of the Trinity test. DORIS VIGIL MCBRIDE Santa Fe