In collaboration with the county and local nonprofit Just Moms STL, District 6 Councilman Mike Archer (R-Oakville) hosted an informational town hall about the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) on March 26.

RECA compensates those who have developed cancers or other specified diseases due to living or working near radioactive waste produced by the Manhattan Project. To qualify, one must have lived or worked in the designated zip codes for at least two years, consecutive or not, and the cancer must have occurred at least two years after initial exposure to the area. Twenty-one area zip codes are eligible in Missouri, including two in St. Louis city — one being 63102, encompassing Busch Stadium, the Gateway Arch and the riverfront — as well as four in St. Charles and 15 throughout the county, mainly focused on the north side. Those directly impacted may receive a one-time payment of $50,000; if they have since died, a surviving spouse or child may claim $25,000.

Though RECA has been around for 35 years, it became available to eligible Missouri residents in July.

“The documents … were classified in Missouri,” Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL said. “They had barrels of thorium stacked. They wanted to make a new bomb. When the workers went up there, the barrels were disintegrating. The document states very clearly it’s too dangerous for the workers to move this material into a new barrel … allow(ing) it to leak into Coldwater Creek.”

For questions regarding RECA, call Sen. Josh Hawley’s RECA Hotline at 202-228-4388, contact Just Moms STL via email at westlakemoms@gmail.com or visit stlouiscountymo.gov/RECA.