Nuclear fallout victims seek compensation Downwinders question their exclusion from federal program

By Caleb Soptelean
Miner Staff Writer

Mohave County will be added to the federal compensation program for fallout victims of above-ground nuclear testing, according to Kingman’s state representative. "It's not if we get accepted, it's when," Rep. Joe Hart, R-Kingman, said Saturday in reference to discussion he said he has had with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, about the matter. A representative of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the same meeting of a Mohave County compensation group that McCain's office is trying to find out why the Justice Department left the county out of a compensation program. Also, news about the possible exclusion of the Arizona Strip from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 highlighted a meeting of the Downwinders group at the Kathryn Heidenreich Adult Center.

Hart read a portion of a Department of Justice letter dated April 20, 2001 that says, "The original law included a portion of Mohave County, Arizona (located north of the Grand Canyon), for purposes of compensation. However, when Congress amended RECA last summer and added five additional counties, the drafters of the legislation inadvertently eliminated that portion of Mohave County that was previously compensable under the original law."

When Hart was talking about his letter, which he referred to as a "smoking gun," Downwinders leader Eleanor Fanire spoke up and noted that the letter was written to then-Kingman City Manager Louis G. Sorensen.

The Downwinders, who say they or relatives were exposed to fallout from nuclear bomb testing during the 1950s, are trying to include Mohave County in the federal compensation program.

Hart said he knows some people who live in the Arizona Strip who have qualified for reimbursement from the federal government under RECA.

Hart said he believes all of Mohave County will be qualified for program eventually. He said Hatch told him he would either amend the current law to get Mohave County included or he would draft a new bill to do so.

"The intent of Congress was to include Mohave County because of the prevailing wind," Hart said. "Sen. Hatch would not intentionally leave out Mohave County."

Hart noted prevailing winds in Arizona come out of both the southwest and northwest.

"I think it will come together very soon … and we're doing it with good science. We have the numbers to prove it," Hart said. "We've got the deaths to prove it too."

Nick Matiella, a representative from McCain's Office, spoke briefly to the crowd of about 75 people and stayed for the entire meeting.

"I'm here on a learning curve," he said. "I'm eager to learn about the issue."

When asked by a man in the audience about why Mohave County proper was not included in RECA, Matiella said, "It's unclear why Mohave County was not put on the list. The Department of Justice didn't give me a straight answer. We're looking into it."

Someone in the audience speculated about the cause of Mohave County not be qualified for RECA because the spelling of "Mohave" can be confused with Mojave County, Calif.

Fanire said that when she originally sent paperwork to the Department of Justice in 1990 for herself and/or her relatives to qualify for RECA, she received a letter back from DOJ that spelled Mohave County as "Mojave" County and said its residents were not qualified.

Judy (Finch) Smith said that when she was in school in Kingman, she was taught to spell Mohave County with a "j," that is as "Mojave" County.

"There's something wrong here," Smith said.

Regina Ponder, a health care representative from Phoenix who said she works for a firm that contracts with the Department of Justice, also spoke. She works for Mountain Park Health Center to serve the few Arizona counties that currently qualify for treatment of cancers under RECA.

She said the act originally was a response to Native Americans who worked in and around uranium mines.

Ponder told the audience that even though Mohave County was not included in the original RECA legislation or in four subsequent amendments, the language of the law apologizes for what was done as a result of uranium mining and at the southern Nevada test site. She said RECA was amended Nov. 2, 2002.

Because Arizona law only requires doctors to keep patients' information for seven years, Ponder stressed the importance of the Downwinders keeping documentation of their illnesses.

Matt Capalby, Northern Arizona liaison officer for the state Department of Environmental Quality, suggested the Downwinders ask Gov. Janet Napolitano to send a letter to each member of Arizona's Congressional delegation and to Hatch requesting that they "open up the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990."

Capalby also suggested that cancer sufferers who have been affected by the southern Nevada test site ask the governor to authorize the Department of Environmental Quality and Arizona Department of Health Services to provide assistance and necessary data to Arizona's Congressional delegation so that Mohave County can be added to RECA.

A representative of an Indian tribe said, "We need to keep knocking and knocking."

Earlier during the meeting, Ponder said, "No one knows for sure how long this will take once the ball starts rolling."

Those who qualify for compensation under RECA can receive up to $50,000 for themselves or their immediate relatives.

Ponder said she talked with state Rep. Bill Wagner, R-Bullhead City, on Friday and that Wagner said he was exposed to fallout while living in Yavapai County and qualified for compensation. Yavapai County residents qualified for compensation.

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