Eighty years ago this Friday, scientists detonated the first atomic bomb at Trinity Site without fully understanding what would happen and without notifying nearby residents.
The world remembers that moment as the start of the nuclear arms race. Our nation remembers it as the end of World War II. But for residents of the Tularosa Basin and their offspring, July 16, 1945 was the day their safe, little, isolated spot in the desert became contaminated forever. Four generations later, they are still dealing with the death and illness that rained down on them that day.
The world remembers that moment as the start of the nuclear arms race. Our nation remembers it as the end of World War II. But for residents of the Tularosa Basin and their offspring, July 16, 1945 was the day their safe, little, isolated spot in the desert became contaminated forever. Four generations later, they are still dealing with the death and illness that rained down on them that day.
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“Radioactive fallout, as well as weapons-grade plutonium that never did fission … that is still out there, and has a half-life of 24,000 years,” Mary Martinez White of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium explained during a recent community radio interview.
“There were 13 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium. The bomb didn’t ignite the way they wanted it to. Only three pounds actually ignited. The rest went up 40,000 feet in the air and rained down on New Mexico for days. It was during the monsoon season.” It has left the area permanently contaminated, she said. “A minute amount - if it touches your skin, if you inhale it, if you ingest it - it will enter your body and it will never leave. So, you would likely get latent cancers from that exposure.” Martinez White went on to list members of her immediate family who have been diagnosed with cancer, and it seemed to hit everyone, including those much younger. Her 18-year-old nephew was the latest. Yet incredibly, New Mexico was not included in the Radium Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, a belated effort by Congress to acknowledge the harm done during testing for the atomic bomb and provide some small financial help for the victims. The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium was created in 2005 in an attempt to right that obvious wrong. It has been a long, hard slog ever since. The group finally pushed their legislation through the Senate last year, but it was blocked in the House by Speaker Mike Johnson. Finally, this year - 80 years after the blast and 20 years after the group was formed - they have achieved success. For the first time, New Mexicans will now be included under RECA. As is so often the case with Congress, good things don’t come on their own. This provision, which is so overdue and justly deserved, came as part of the abomination that will cut food assistance and medical services in order to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, whose state was also excluded from RECA, was able to get the provision into the bill, perhaps in exchange for his vote. Hawley had been a vocal opponent of the Medicaid cuts before voting for the bill. Help will only be available for two years, is limited to just 19 specific cancers, and compensation is capped at $100,000. But for those who have fought so long and hard for this recognition, it's about more than just the money. “The point of all of this is that we acknowledge what happened, and we remember. Because if we don’t, this is going to happen again,” Mazrtinez White said. Walt Rubel can be reached at [email protected]. |
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