Las Cruces, NM – On this edition of PUENTES a la comunidad, bridges to the community, host Emily Guerra spoke with Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium Co-Founder, Tina Cordova, to talk to us about the world’s first atomic bomb explosion on July 16, 1945, in New Mexico at White Sands Missile Range, Southeast of Socorro, NM, known as Trinity Site. This historical site will re-open to visitors on Saturday, April 2nd. On that day, organizers from the Tularosa Basin Downwinders will meet visitors in a Peaceful Demonstration to bring awareness of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, RECA, which is due to expire July 11, 2022.
The town of Tularosa is 40 miles downwind of the blast site. Cordova says that to this day many people are unaware of the effects to their communities within 150 miles of the Trinity Site. According to the CDC, “nineteen counties in New Mexico were in the downwind area, including 78 towns and cities, and dozens of ranches and pueblos. Radiation levels near homes in some “hot spots” reached levels “almost 10,000 times what is currently allowed in public areas.” www.trinitydownwinders.com and on Facebook.
