East of San Antonio NM, the Tularosa Downwinders Consortium gathered to protest at the open house of the Trinity Nuclear Test Site, where thousands of visitors from around the world come to see where the first nuclear bomb was detonated.
Tina Cordova is the founder of the Tularosa Downwinders Consortium. She said that at this point, it’s imperative to educate the public is about how generations of New Mexican families have been affected by the nuclear fallout from the Trinity bomb.
“We decided that if droves of people are going to go out there, and they’re going to hear the government say that the area was remote and uninhabited – that no one lived here and no one was harmed, and if they’re going to over-glorify the science, we’re going to be here to tell our history. The history that’s never been told or acknowledged.”
Cordova said that the consortium is filled with members who are suffering from health problems caused by nuclear radiation, and that attending funerals of friends and family who die early from cancers and autoimmune disorders caused by radiation is common for her.
“When they detonated the bomb at Trinity, they harmed thousands of people. At 150 miles we had 500,000 people living here. It encompassed Albuquerque and Santa Fe to the north, and El Paso and Ciudad Juárez to the south. Half a million people were living here. That has huge consequence, you can’t explode a bomb adjacent to where people live and not expect them to have health consequences.”
Bernice Gutierrez is a member of the Tularosa Downwinders Consortium. Gutierrez was born in Carrizozo, New Mexico just days after the Trinity Test. She said that she knows of at least 40 of her family members who suffer from illness caused by radiation exposure, and that she’s worried about the wellbeing of her granddaughters.
“We don’t ask if we’re going to get any type of cancer or radiation exposure disease. We wonder when,” she said.
Gutierrez said that her hope is to be recognized by the federal government under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, so that affected Downwinders can get the help that they need before it’s too late.
“All that I can ask is that our government acknowledge the harm they’ve done to us, compensate the people so that they can get possibly health clinics built in these rural communities so that they can have early detection and stop the death. We’re exposed to death all the time because of cancer,” she said. “My family alone, we’re five generations down. That’s a worry. And all we can ask is that our government do something about it. To compensate those of us who were the first people ever exposed.”
United States Senator Ben Ray Luján is a representative for the state of New Mexico, and has been an advocate to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to cover those affected by the Trinity Bomb.
“Where the original RECA fell short is not including New Mexico or any counties in New Mexico as downwind counties. That would provide support to the families that were exposed,” Luján said.
Luján said that with the expiration date of RECA looming, and the lack of support from federal officials, he’s worried about the fate of the Tularosa Downwinders.
“These families are right to be angry, right to be upset. Right to be losing faith in the process that’s supposed to be protecting them when they sacrifice and their family sacrifice for the national security efforts of America,” he said. “That’s where they should be.”
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act is set to expire in the summer of 2024. After that, the United States Department of Justice will cease accepting claims from individuals affected by radiation, and as of now, there has been no federal legislation introduced that would cover New Mexico as a downwind state.
