EMMETT, Idaho — For years, thousands have pushed and advocated for compensation for individuals who were affected by nuclear fallout from government bomb testing sites in the 1950s, with Gem County residents being one of the biggest populations impacted. I spoke with a few locals after Idaho was stripped from the most recent proposed bill for compensation.
See the Idaho Downwinders reaction to being cut out of compensation legislation:
"Growing up here, if you didn't die from a car accident, then you died of cancer. They call it the valley of plenty. It's more like the valley of death," said Idaho Downwinders director Eltona Henderson.
Nearly eighty years after the us began testing its nuclear bombs in southern Nevada, thousands are still suffering the effects of nuclear fallout.
Henderson added, "It was very top secret. Nobody knew what was going on. Nobody knew what radiation was or what fallout was."
"If you or your family has been in Idaho since the 50s and 60s, you will have cancer in your family," stated Emmett local Michele Chadwick.
The Idaho Downwinders have been advocating for compensation for the hundreds of thousands who were impacted by those government projects. In 1990, the government approved the Radio Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA.
Henderson continued, "In order to get the $50,000, you would have to have had one of 19 acceptable types of cancer. Then you would have to prove that you lived in a compensated county for two years."
Over the last few years, Henderson has worked with Idaho senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo to rework legislation to make it easier for people to claim compensation. The bill proposed to offer folks $100,000, capping the total payout at $5 billion. But now the language in this legislation has been changed by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Utah Senator Mike Lee, including more states in the compensation, but Idaho was removed altogether.
A statement from Senator Risch says, while Idaho Downwinders are still left out, he is actively fighting to ensure that affected Idahoans receive due recognition and are included in the program.
But time is running out as President Trump wants this legislation on his desk by July 4th. Michelle Chadwick, who lost her husband Danny to multiple cancers last year, says she is keeping hope alive.
"The only way we are going to get this through is to have a call to action and have the president understand that this is what the government has done to our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and children. We need to keep saying their names and we need to keep crying those tears because they are worth it. It's sad to think the government didn't think they were," finished Chadwick.
Idaho News 6 has reached out to Senator Hawley for comment on the removal but has yet to hear back.
