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APRIL 2, 2001

As more and more die from cancer and other diseases, the goverment has still failed to compensate many victims of uranium radiation, many of them Navajo.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Reform Coalition was formed in January 1999 to make sure the government compensated miners and others who were affected by the goverment's uranium efforts. Since then, four of its leaders have died.

Many of the workers who mined uranium came from the Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation. But many workers and their families have been unable to gain compensation due to overly strict standards regarding proof of documentation for health claims.

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) have introduced and passed various bills to better compensate victims. The program ran out of money last year, however, and the goverment is issuing "IOUs" to miners.

Get the Story:
Uranium victims losing leaders (The Denver Post 4/2)

Related Stories:
Compensation for radiation urged (The Medicine Wheel 03/02)
Uranium compensation slow to come (The Medicine Wheel 01/29)
Uranium poisons Navajo miners (The Medicine Wheel 07/31)
Law compensates Navajo miners (Enviro 07/25)