The St. Charles City-County Library (SCCCL) in partnership with State Representative Tricia Byrnes, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s office, and St. Charles County, will co-host a Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) town hall for residents planning to apply for compensation.
"As a trusted community resource, we're proud to be the host site for this important town hall and to offer support to our residents,” SCCCL Chief Executive Officer John Greifzu said. “Our staff have devoted time, training, and resources to help individuals both online and through one-on-one appointments to navigate this process."
The town hall will be held at the Spencer Road Branch, 427 Spencer Road, on Tuesday, October 14, from 6-8 p.m. For easy access to the meeting space, SCCCL recommends entering through The Commons at Spencer Road entrance, which faces Boone Hills Drive.
Those looking to file a RECA claim can utilize Library research tools and staff assistance to locate documents showing they lived in one of the affected communities for at least two years after January 1, 1949. The Library is printing RECA applications free of charge at all of its branches.
This summer, Congress expanded coverage to four St. Charles County ZIP codes:
- 63304 (St. Peters, Weldon Spring, Cottleville)
- 63341 (Defiance)
- 63367 (Lake Saint Louis)
- 63368 (O’Fallon, Dardenne Prairie)
The ZIP codes were chosen to cover those who may have lived, worked, or attended school near the EPA Superfund sites in Weldon Spring, where Mallinckrodt Chemical Company refined uranium during the Cold War era. The site was later closed and abandoned for many years before being remediated and capped with a mountain of rocks.
State Representative Tricia Byrnes, a long-time advocate, will emcee. County officials, including Recorder of Deeds Mary Dempsey and Elections Director Kurt Bahr, will be present to explain the process for obtaining county records to apply. Representatives of Hawley’s office, along with SCCCL staff, will be in attendance.
Under the program, which covers a total of 21 ZIP codes in the St. Louis region, people can apply for financial compensation from the federal government if they or a relative got cancer after exposure to radiation from the nation’s nuclear program.