Last summer was the first time Missourians exposed to radioactive waste could apply for compensation.
They include many St. Louis-area residents affected in the 1970s by waste left over from the Manhattan Project — a top-secret federal government program established to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.
While more $122 million has been approved for payouts through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, parents whose children died after living near the waste don’t get to see that money.
Grieving mothers search for justice for their daughters
The walls of Cindy Whitman’s home are covered in colorful photos of her late daughter, Victoria Dawn. “She loved orcas, dolphins, sunflowers,” Whitman, 62, said. “Her nieces made all these pictures, and I put them up.”
She pointed to photos of Victoria on the beach holding her fingers in the formation of a heart above her head, and others of Victoria with family members and friends…