MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

CENTER NOTES

URANIUM WORKERS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: CAMPAIGN SEEKS ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION FOR EXPOSURE

Uranium mine and mill workers from across the western states, including workers from the Navajo Nation and Laguna and Acoma Pueblos, are at the core of a broad-based campaign to expand compensation provided by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 (RECA, or, the Act).

This campaign is fueled by the sense of injustice among the uranium workers and their families who recognize that the 1990 Act failed to provide any compensation for workers exposed to hazards in uranium mills and open pit mines or compensate any workers for levels of exposure not covered by the inappropriately high standards in the Act. The relatively narrow scope of the 1990 Act includes only underground uranium miners who worked prior to 1971, could fully document employment and health records, and were exposed to more than 200 working level months (WLM) of cancer-causing radon decay products in the mines.

The Western States RECA Reform Coalition, which consists of representatives of grassroots, native and non-native, radiation victims organizations from the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah, the Navajo Nation and the Laguna and Acoma pueblos have been working on the issue. SRIC has provided technical support to the Coalition and to the tribal governments involved.

The RECA expansion campaign began in late 1997 and reached a crescendo in April 1998 when more than 1,000 people, primarily Navajo uranium workers and their families, attend a public meeting on uranium worker compensation needs at Fort Wingate in New Mexico. While federal legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate in 1998 and formal hearings were held in both Houses, no bills were called for vote by either House or Senate committees.

Action on RECA reform early in the current Congress has been very strong, with a comprehensive RECA reform bill being introduced by New Mexico Rep. Joe Skeen (HR 1516), N.M. Rep. Tom Udall (HR 1045) and N.M. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (S 367). Each of these bills would: (1) expand compensation to cover mill workers, underground and open pit miners working at least one year between 1942-1990; (2) reduce exposure required by 80 percent (from 200 WLM to 40 WLM); and (3) provide compensation for victims of lung cancer, non-malignant respiratory disease and "any other medical condition associated with uranium mining or milling." Compensation awards are increased from $100,000 to $200,000 in the new bills, each of which would add new provisions requiring the consideration of Native American law, tradition, and custom in evaluating compensation applications.

Major efforts to educate affected workers and their families, Congressional representatives, and the public at large are anticipated in the summer and fall of 1999 in hopes of achieving Congressional action in the year 2000. These activities include open meetings in uranium-producing communities to identify potentially eligible workers, build support for the legislation among local officials and the public, and prepare for field hearings in the late summer.

As former workers grow older and their health problems become even more severe, the momentum for RECA reform to more justly compensate the whole range of uranium workers in the USA is growing rapidly.

For more information on this important campaign, or to get involved, contact: Lori Goodman, Dine CARE (970) 259-0199 or kiyaani@frontier.net; Paul Hicks, New Mexico Uranium Workers Council (505) 287-3165; Carol Dewy, Colorado Plateau Uranium Workers (970) 677-2362; or Paul Robinson at Southwest Research and Information Center (505) 262-1862 or sricpaul@earthlink.net. Testimony given before a House Judiciary Subcommittee on RECA reform June 1998 by Paul Robinson, SRIC's research director, can be found on the SRIC Web site at www. sric. org.

— Paul Robinson