ST. LOUIS – A big update for victims of the St. Louis region’s nuclear radiation contamination came Thursday. Sixty-one U.S. senators voted in favor of a compensation bill for victims.
“This doesn’t solve everything. But it’s a good first step that is a long time coming,” said Senator Eric Schmitt.
Questions about compensation for victims who develop illnesses and cancers after living near the West Lake Landfill site are finally getting answers.
“This allows for monetary compensation from a fund that was created decades ago to deal with the Manhattan Project injuries from the toxic waste that was left behind, but Missouri was never included,” Schmitt said.
A concern of residents during last week’s West Lake Community Advisory Group meeting was who would qualify for the compensation and how quickly the legislation would be approved.
“They are not compensated on a differential basis. It’s that if you have lived or worked in one of the affected areas, and those are outlined in the bill,” said Senator Josh Hawley. “And you have developed within a certain time frame any of the illnesses or disorders listed, you are eligible to have your medical expenses paid for, or if you would prefer to have a one-time payment of $50,000.”
Hawley said the bill extends the already existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to cover medical expenses for people living in 20 zip codes in our area who qualify.
“In our region, it was totally involuntary; they didn’t even know about it, and they were lied to,” he said. “It wasn’t like they were asked to volunteer in a nuclear program, which those folks deserve compensation too. But in our region, people were not volunteering. They were basically conscripted into it and had this forced on them.”