The history documented through Greetings from Niagara is not only an environmental history. It is also a history of workers, families, and communities exposed to radioactive materials that were processed, transported, buried, dumped, or distributed across the region.
One purpose of this project is to help Niagara residents and families find the federal programs that already exist—and to raise awareness that people harmed by Manhattan Project and Cold War contamination in Niagara and Erie Counties should not remain outside federal recognition and compensation.
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act — RECA
RECA is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. Under the current law, it provides compensation to people who meet specific requirements involving a covered exposure category, location, time period, illness, and family relationship.
RECA now includes a Manhattan Project waste category for people who lived, worked, or attended school in designated contaminated areas. The current Department of Justice eligibility list does not include Niagara or Erie Counties.
This project supports the inclusion of affected Niagara communities in RECA.
Radioactive waste does not become less consequential because it crossed a factory boundary, entered a waterway, was transported away from a federal facility, or was used as fill beneath streets, businesses, and homes.
Official RECA information RECA claims portal
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act — EEOICPA
EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to qualifying workers who became ill after exposure to radiation or other toxic substances at covered nuclear-weapons facilities. Certain survivors may also qualify when the worker is deceased.
Families connected to Niagara’s uranium-processing and nuclear-industry sites should investigate eligibility rather than assume that too much time has passed or that records no longer exist.
Electro Metallurgical / Electromet is already recognized within EEOICPA.
NIOSH lists a Special Exposure Cohort class for qualifying employees who worked at the Niagara Falls site from August 13, 1942 through December 31, 1947 and met the program’s employment and illness requirements.
A worker or survivor may need employment records, job titles, dates of employment, medical documentation, and proof of relationship. Department of Labor resource centers provide free assistance with the claim process.
Why this page exists
Workers were often not told the full nature of the materials they handled. Families may know that a parent, spouse, or grandparent worked at Electromet, Linde, Hooker Chemical, Carborundum, Bethlehem Steel, Guterl, or another regional facility without knowing whether that employment was connected to the federal nuclear-weapons program.
Residents exposed through contaminated soil, homes, streets, waterways, and industrial fill also deserve a clear path toward federal recognition, medical support, and compensation.
Important: This page provides public-resource and historical information. It is not legal advice, and inclusion on this website does not establish eligibility. Federal agencies determine eligibility under each program.