Rocky Flats Downwinders

09/04/2026

After our recent post asking for people to share their personal story for our new website, we heard from so many impacted Rocky Flats Downwinder community members. Many shared heart breaking stories of sickness and suffering. I know it's encouraging for our community to finally get some recognition and for the possibility that some may be eligible for compensation but its important to remember to advocate for our own health. Too often, our medical professionals are not aware of Rocky Flats or the potential our exposures may have had on our current health. For this reason, we are providing a new one page letter on our new website that Downwinders can print out to bring to their medical professionals to get a conversation started. Rocky Flats Downwinders

08/19/2026

It is great to get some local media coverage on this issue.

Ballot measure aims to force local govts to allow gas; National Dems see path to flip Republican-held CO congressional seats; Colorado’s statewide e-bike rebates return

08/19/2026

We are so grateful to our own U.S. Rep Brittany Pettersen for co-leading this important bill as well as Congressman James C. Moylan for getting this bill started and Representative Joe Neguse for joining in and 8 other representatives from across the nation who see the importance of supporting communities impacted by nuclear weapons production and testing. #
https://moylan.house.gov/media/press-releases/moylan-renews-fight-for-radiation-justice-brings-together-national-coalition-for-expanded-reca-legislation

08/18/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Federal Legislation Offers Hope to Colorado Communities Impacted by Nuclear Weapons Production and Radioactive Fallout
[Denver, Colorado] — On August 17, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO), Congressman James Moylan (Guam), Rep Wesley Bell (MO), Rep Leger Fernandez (NM), As well as original co-sponsors Rep Kimberely King-Hinds (CNMI), Rep Gabe Vasquez (NM), Rep Dina Titus (NV), Rep Greg Stanton (AZ), Rep Joe Neguse (CO), Rep Nikki Budzinski (IL), Rep Steven Horsford (NV) introduced H.R. 10115 The Radiation Compensation Reauthorization Act of 2026 to expand and improve the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

Among its provisions, the bill would recognize the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver and the Cotter Uranium Mill near Canyon City as Manhattan Project waste sites and designate Colorado as a downwind state for exposure to radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. These long-sought changes would help acknowledge the impacts of the nation's nuclear weapons program on Colorado communities and offer new hope to individuals and families seeking recognition and compensation for radiation-related illnesses.

For decades, communities across the country have sought recognition that exposure to radioactive materials associated with uranium mining, nuclear weapons production, waste disposal, and atmospheric nuclear weapons testing can have lasting health consequences. If enacted, the legislation would help correct longstanding gaps in federal compensation by extending eligibility to additional affected populations, marking a significant step toward justice for radiation-exposed communities nationwide.

"This legislation represents years of advocacy by survivors, impacted families, scientists, healthcare professionals, and community organizations who refused to let these stories be forgotten," said Tiffany Hansen, co-founder of Rocky Flats Downwinders. "While no law can undo the suffering experienced by so many families, this expansion acknowledges that more Coloradoans deserve recognition and assistance."

Rocky Flats Downwinders (RFD), Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste (CCAT), Rocky Flats Nuclear Guardianship (RFNG), Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado (PSR Colorado), and other concerned organizations, scientists and impacted citizens welcome the introduction of the legislation, calling it a historic step toward addressing longstanding gaps in federal compensation for communities affected by radiation exposure.

Contact: Tiffany Hansen
[Phone: 303-681-1364] [Email: [email protected]]

If you have a media contact and want to share this, please email me at [email protected] and I can provide a Media Packet and the bill text to include. Rocky Flats Downwinders

08/18/2026

H.R. 10115 was introduced yesterday and we are extremely grateful to Representative Brittany Pettersen and Representative Joe Neguse for co sponsoring this important Bi partisan RECA expansion bill. This bill (actual text to be available soon) seeks to amend the current RECA legislation to include additional communications including Rocky Flats and Cotter Mill near Canon City and other communities impacted by nuclear weapons testing, manufacturing and uranium mining. MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!!!

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10115?s=4&r=5&hl=Radiation+Exposure+Compensation+Act

08/13/2026

Dear Community,
As we are patiently waiting for the expanded RECA bill to be introduced by Congressman Moylan and co-led by some of CO's own US Representatives, we are working on updating our website in a new platform. We want to include a section of Stories of Rocky Flats Downwinders so people can share their personal stories and so new comers to the site and/or topic can learn about the people who make up our community. Below is an example of a story we have received. If you are willing to also share your story, as Amber so bravely has, please email your story and a picture of the past or present to [email protected].

Amber's Story.
My family’s story is one of the many that makes the legacy of Rocky Flats deeply personal. This is not simply a piece of Colorado history to us. It is something that has followed my family across generations and has shaped the way we think about our health, our future, and the questions we may never be able to fully answer.

My mom was a Rocky Flats downwinder for essentially her entire life. Today, she lives with multiple chronic autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. She deals with the effects of these illnesses every day. Watching her live with conditions that cause chronic pain, fatigue, inflammation, and other health challenges has been difficult, especially knowing that she spent so much of her life in an area where people were unknowingly living with the potential consequences of environmental exposure.

Then serious illness became part of my own story as well. As her daughter, I never imagined that I would one day find myself facing major health challenges at a relatively young age. Suddenly, the questions surrounding Rocky Flats were no longer just about what may have happened to the generation before me. They became questions about my generation, my health, and what this history could potentially mean for the generations that come after us.

One of the hardest parts is living with the uncertainty. We may never be able to point to one exposure and say with absolute certainty that it caused a particular illness. But families like mine deserve to have our experiences acknowledged, studied, and taken seriously. When patterns of serious and chronic illness appear among people who lived in affected communities, those stories matter. They should not disappear simply because decades have passed.

My mom and I represent two generations of one family affected by significant illness after a lifetime connected to the Rocky Flats downwind area. I share our story not to claim that we have every answer, but because people deserve to know what families like ours have experienced. Greater awareness, continued research, transparency, and recognition of downwind communities are important, not only for those who are already sick, but for our children and future generations.

For us, Rocky Flats is not just something that happened in the past. Its legacy is still very much present in our family today.

08/08/2026

Thanks for your patience while we work on updating our website and transferring it to another platform. We will soon launch a new Community Health Mapping Project after consulting with community health experts and we hope you will all participate. Meanwhile, we are working on creating a page dedicated to supporting our impacted community members and sharing Go Fund Me's, Meal Trains, Organ Donation and other needs based requests. In the interim, I am sharing some urgent requests now.

Rosia Parrish has recently joined our efforts to be included in a bi partisan RECA bill. As a physician, breast cancer survivor and mother, she could use our help.

Rosia (Harper and Emery’s mom) has been navigating a long journey with breast cancer and is incredibly grateful to now be in remission. Due to complications and complexities following her mastectomy, she is facing up to three additional surgeries. The next, scheduled for August 5, will be the thir...

01/29/2026

After years of debate and developing open space trails into Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a former bomb factory, warning signs are up.