Steve Young, organizer of the Monticello Victims of Mill Tailings Exposure, encouraged his neighbors to push the federal government for a long-term program that would help pay for cancer screening and expenses related to the old mill.

"It does make a difference to send a letter," Young told about four dozen people who attended a public meeting Thursday night at the Monticello High School auditorium. "As a community, with the help of government, we can make a difference."

The federal government operated Vanadium Corporation of America in the small town for 20 years. It made uranium-vanadium sludge for the Manhattan Project, which developed the nation's first atomic bombs. Monticello residents say the U.S. Energy Department should open up its health and compensation program for former atomic weapons workers to Monticello residents.

In fact, Fritz Pipkin, also a member of the cancer victims group, referred to the hundreds of people who had died or become ill because of the mill unrecognized "military heroes."

While the mill site was cleaned up under the federal Superfund program, the lingering impacts of exposure to radioactive material continues in the community.

Residents have been heartened by a follow-up study completed in December that showed an inordinate number of cases of lung and stomach cancer among Monticello residents.

Residents on Thursday heard a presentation on a $79,762 congressional earmark that will allow a screening and assistance program to begin though the local health department.

Representatives of three federal agencies, two state agencies and the offices of GOP U.S. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett attended the meeting, as did a representative of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson's office.

Organizers provided sample letters that residents can send to lawmakers and government agencies that could help develop a long-term program.

The government officials and residents ended Thursday's meeting by releasing bouquets of yellow balloons. Each of the 510 balloons bore a label with the name of a Monticello cancer victim.

fahys@sltrib.com