ºüÀêÊÓƵ

But a public meeting that drew hundreds of people to Pattonville High School only stoked more anger and frustration among north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County residents searching for answers.

The EPA, in 2008, approved a plan to cap radioactive material at West Lake and install a system of groundwater monitors. Many area residents and environmental advocates instead want the waste removed, citing risk from floods, earthquakes and the potential for contaminants to migrate off-site.

The crowd at Tuesday’s meeting continued to push to transfer the West Lake site to the Army Corps of Engineers, which is excavating radiologically contaminated soils at several other ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area properties.

Resident Byron Clemens said the federal government was responsible for creating the waste during World War II but hasn’t done an adequate job managing the material after it was deposited at West Lake.

“We don’t want to wait another 40 years,� Clemens said. “When will you take it to a licensed facility? Get it out of here.�

EPA’s Cecilia Tapia, director of the EPA Superfund Division for Region 7, said the U.S. Department of Energy, one of the parties responsible for cleaning up the West Lake contamination, would have to transfer the site to the Corps of Engineers and Congress would have to appropriate funding.

North County residents say they are tired of waiting, especially because a smoldering fire that has burned within the adjacent Bridgeton Landfill for more than two years has only heightened concern about West Lake and focused attention on plans to manage the site.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources say the subsurface fire is about 1,200 feet from West Lake, and they believe a system of gas wells installed in April is helping limit its movement.

And EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said Tuesday that people who live and work in the area face no health risk from the West Lake site.

“It’s basically the same picture presented back in January,� he said. “The radiation from the material that was illegally buried some 40 years ago does not threaten public health, provided that you stay outside of the fenced area.�

Brooks said additional tests are scheduled before the EPA makes any further decision about how to move forward.

Dan Gravatt, remedial project manager for the West Lake site, said the agency will conduct two more rounds of groundwater sampling at West Lake in July and October, including some testing in surrounding areas.

The EPA has asked the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a study to provide additional information on how groundwater at the site behaves. Brooks said the agency is evaluating a full scope of alternatives that include complete and partial excavation of radioactive materials. There is no timetable for the EPA to propose a new remedial plan.

“We’re back now at what amounts to the start of the process,� Brooks said.

But that only drew more anger from residents who expressed frustration at the lack of progress under the federal Superfund law.

“We can’t invent new procedures, we can’t invent new rules,� Brooks said. “It will be done with the evidence that we have with the law that we’re obligated to follow.�