Amendment would aid to those affected by nuclear radiation in Pike and Scioto counties

Chillicothe Gazette
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WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced he is backing an amendment which will be filed to the Federal Aviation Act that will allow residents from several zip codes across Pike and Scioto County who became ill as a result of exposure to nuclear radiation to seek compensation.

Brown worked with U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), the sponsor of the amendment, to ensure that affected residents in Pike and Scioto counties are included in the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) program.

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“Workers in Southeast Ohio sacrificed to help our country win the Cold War. I will never stop fighting to get workers at PORTS and Ohioans in its surrounding communities the compensation they’re owed,” said Brown in a news release. “Reauthorizing RECA, with the addition of these affected communities, has bipartisan support. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that residents living in Pike and Scioto County exposed to radiation are included in this vital program, which repays the debt we owe these communities.”

RECA, enacted in 1990, provides a one-time benefit payment to individuals who have become sick or died as a result of exposure to radiation from the production and testing of atomic weapons. RECA is currently set to expire in June 2024, absent Congressional action.

Earlier this year, Brown secured a commitment from the bill’s sponsors to work to add affected communities in Ohio, particularly Pike and Scioto County to RECA. Adding zip codes in Pike and Scioto County to the bill’s new Nuclear Storage Exposure Provision would ensure workers and residents in Ohio adjacent to the U.S. Department of Energy site in Piketon, are also made eligible for compensation resulting from the improper storage of radioactive material.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Amendment would aid to those affected by nuclear radiation in Pike/Scioto