Colorado Representatives Push for Expanded Radiation Exposure Compensation for Rocky Flats and Cotter Mill Victims
Colorado Representatives Brittany Pettersen and Joe Neguse are advocating for an expansion of the 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. This proposed expansion aims to recognize the Cotter uranium mill near Cañon City and the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver as Manhattan Project waste sites. Such a designation would enable individuals residing in 57 specific zip codes near these sites, who have developed certain illnesses, to apply for medical expense reimbursement and a separate payment of $150,000. Additionally, the bill seeks to classify Colorado as a 'downwinder' state due to nuclear weapons testing in Nevada during the 1950s and 1960s. This would make Coloradans who lived in the state during that period and developed illnesses like leukemia and breast cancer eligible for restitution. Representative Pettersen initiated this legislation after hearing from constituents whose family members were ill or had passed away without qualifying for existing compensation.
