A radiation warning sign hangs on a fence at the West Lake landfill in Bridgeton on March 13, 2012.
ST. LOUIS听鈥 The last time the Missouri Attorney General鈥檚 Office jumped into the fray over radioactive waste in 狐狸视频, a Democrat was in charge.
In 2013, then-Attorney General Chris Koster sued the operator of the Bridgeton Landfill after an underground fire ignited, prompting fears it could spread to the adjacent West Lake Landfill where tons of leftover uranium processing waste were dumped 50 years ago.听
Now, activists and state lawmakers are calling on the current attorney general, Republican Andrew Bailey, to sue the U.S. Department of Energy. Those calls follow a report from听, and The Associated Press听analyzing government documents that detail the federal government鈥檚 role in decades-old radioactive contamination from the country鈥檚 early nuclear weapons program here.
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Bailey now has what he needs to sue the Department of Energy, or at least 鈥渂ring them to task for what they鈥檝e done to the state,鈥 said longtime nuclear waste activist Dawn Chapman, who heads the group that became active in the wake of the Bridgeton Landfill fire a decade ago.听
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., hugs Dawn Chapman, an activist with Just Moms STL, at a news conference on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center in St. Charles County.
鈥淗ad I had these documents earlier, I absolutely would鈥檝e gone to then-Attorney General (Josh) Hawley, or even earlier, I鈥檇 have gone to Attorney General Koster,鈥 Chapman said. 鈥淎nd I do think they would鈥檝e moved on it, because this is what they were looking for.鈥
Bailey, in a statement Thursday, indicated his office is reviewing the documents and considering action against the Department of Energy.听
鈥淢y office assigned an attorney to investigate this matter when we received documents,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e will convey our findings to the appropriate parties, and will do everything in our power to hold the federal government accountable. We stand ready to assist Senator (Josh) Hawley and other advocates to protect the people of 狐狸视频.鈥
The U.S. Department of Energy is the successor to the Atomic Energy Commission that oversaw the storage of the uranium wastes. The AEC declined to take any action against the contractor that dumped radioactive waste into West Lake,听the Post-Dispatch has reported,听and the Department of Energy has resisted efforts to hold it liable for contamination in the landfill. However, the EPA ultimately named the Department of Energy a potentially responsible party for the West Lake contamination along with private energy company Exelon and landfill owner Republic Services.
The Department of Energy in the past has referred questions about its liability to the EPA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. An NRC spokesman couldn鈥檛 immediately be reached Thursday.听
Koster in 2013 sued the owners of the Bridgeton Landfill after the underground fire there began releasing putrid odors and pollution in that area of 狐狸视频 County. He also began questioning the EPA鈥檚 management of West Lake and stoked concern about radioactive contamination that had migrated offsite.
The situation made headlines for years听and raised the profile of the region鈥檚 nuclear legacy until dying down after landfill owner Republic Services spent over $100 million to contain the smoldering landfill and the EPA ultimately proposed a plan to remove some West Lake landfill waste and cap the rest.听
The $16 million settlement 鈥 which dealt with the air and water pollution released by the burning Bridgeton Landfill听鈥 reimbursed state regulators for their efforts to monitor the fire and laid out monitoring requirements and pollution limits for the landfill operators. A DNR spokesman said the landfill operator had complied with the settlement.
That settlement also set aside $12.5 million for community projects and grants in a fund to be administered by the 狐狸视频 Community Foundation.
The Clayton-based charitable fund administrator said Thursday it had distributed the money to 56 groups, including Just Moms STL, Pattonville Fire Protection District, the city of Bridgeton, SSM Health Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Exact amounts weren鈥檛 immediately available.
Hawley, a Republican who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, is jumping back into the issue after new media reports听parsing thousands of government records dating back 75 years to chronicle the region鈥檚 nuclear waste legacy. The records indicate the government knew the risks of the waste and found issues with its storage at a site near 狐狸视频 Lambert International Airport as early as 1949. The waste ultimately leaked into Coldwater Creek, which meanders through north 狐狸视频 County subdivisions and was used for swimming by area children.
Hawley on Wednesday said he planned to file federal legislation establishing a compensation fund to reimburse families who have had members that contracted cancers associated with radiation exposure.听
That鈥檚 something Kim Visintine, a founding member of group ,鈥 has long advocated. While much of the information about the government鈥檚 role in the contamination has been public for years, Visintine said she is happy to see the issue gaining traction with elected officials. She pointed to听Wentzville-area Republicans, Reps. Tricia Byrnes and Richard West, who sponsored a resolution this legislative session on the issue.
鈥淲e鈥檝e known about this and we鈥檝e tried so hard to get the attention of the right folks,鈥 Visintine said. 鈥淢aybe the timing is just right.鈥
The fund could be modeled after existing federal programs,听she said. One compensates workers who handled radioactive material and contracted radiation-linked cancers, including some of those who worked at Mallinckrodt and elsewhere in the region. Another p听
鈥淭here鈥檚 a couple programs out there that definitely could be used as a foundation,鈥 Visintine said.听
Coldwater Creek's issues with radioactive soil begin with work done near downtown 狐狸视频 for the Manhattan Project during World War II. We summarize the concerns about the creek and how radioactive material contaminated it.
狐狸视频鈥 long history of radioactive contamination. Highlights of 10 years of Post-Dispatch coverage.
From the public announcement that Mallinckrodt Chemical Works helped refine uranium for the Manhattan Project to the present, the 狐狸视频 has covered the issue of storing radioactive waste and subsequent contamination of Coldwater Creek, Weldon Spring and surrounding areas.
Subscribers to the digital archives can search for even older coverage at .
The federal government wants to test soil and water at a popular hiking spot in north 狐狸视频 County for radiological contamination.
House committee hears testimony on compensation for 狐狸视频-area residents exposed to radioactive waste
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project beginning in the 1940s; radioactive waste from that production contaminated areas in north 狐狸视频 County along the Coldwater Creek watershed and around Weldon Spring in St. Charles County.
The legislation will be the subject of a hearing on March 7.
Three of Linda Morice鈥檚 close relatives died of cancer in Florissant near Coldwater Creek. Now she is the author of 鈥淣uked: Echoes of the Hiroshima Bomb in 狐狸视频.鈥澨
Corps insists Jana is safe. Lawyers claim test results reveal contamination there and at other North County sites.
The report marked the third round of testing produced this fall regarding possible radioactive contamination at the school.
鈥淔rom a radiological standpoint, the school is safe,鈥 said Col. Kevin Golinghorst at a board meeting of the Hazelwood School District.
After Thanksgiving break, the school's 375 students will be reassigned to Barrington, Brown, Coldwater, McCurdy or Walker elementaries.
In response to recent public outcry, the Corps vowed to test the 鈥渆ntire school property鈥 and share preliminary results within two weeks. A parent leader is already skeptical.
At a school board meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, a board representative read a statement from the board and school leaders outlining plans to…
Hazelwood School District officials announced the decision at a packed school board meeting Tuesday night.
Coldwater Creek's issues with radioactive soil begin with work done near downtown 狐狸视频 for the Manhattan Project during World War II. We …
The GAO will evaluate the Defense Department鈥檚 management of the cleanup program, among other subjects, her office said.
Backers say it would ensure smaller projects that can still kick up potentially radioactive soil get the same testing and remediation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as government and utility projects do.听
Radioactive contamination in the area has raised safety concerns.
The cost of removing radioactive contamination, a legacy of 狐狸视频鈥 key role in the production of atomic weapons, continues to climb.听
But a lawsuit brought against the company by Republic Services was recently dismissed.
Coldwater Creek was contaminated decades ago by nuclear waste from the production of weapons during World War II.
Mallinckrodt's predecessor, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, processed uranium at its factory in 狐狸视频 used in the U.S. government's Manhattan Project, the World War II-era program that produced the first nuclear weapons. Hazardous residue and materials leftover from the process were disposed of at West Lake Landfill in 1966.听
The study is a critical step toward obtaining additional resources for residents, said Kim Visintine of the group who pushed for the study.听
Exposure to the radiological contaminants that polluted the creek could raise the risks of bone cancer, lung cancer and leukemia.
At a packed 鈥渓istening session鈥 Tuesday night, scores of community members told EPA officials that its proposal to partially remove the site's radioactive contamination is insufficient.
Col. Bryan Sizemore, 狐狸视频 District commander for the corps, said "10,000-plus" samples have been collected from the area, as part of ongoing efforts to test along the length of the creek.听
The meeting is the first since an additional area of contamination was identified and coincides with high-profile developments bringing attention to the area's radioactive waste.
Documentary on North County's radioactive legacy hits airwaves with comment period underway for West Lake proposal.
A bill that would apply to residents of the Spanish Village neighborhood and a nearby mobile home park has passed the Missouri Senate.
The proposal would affect about 90 homes in the Spanish Village subdivision in North County.
Beginning later in March, radioactively contaminated soil will be removed from residential properties in Hazelwood, near Coldwater Creek.
Announcement comes one week after Bridgeton couple filed a lawsuit alleging home was contaminated.
The latest on the landfill at Bridgeton.
EPA aims to pick a strategy for the site's cleanup by the end of the year
Public perception of radiation risk misses decades of scientific study.
JUST MOMS will picket EPA administrator's office听
The bill still must pass the U.S. House, where similar legislation has been proposed by the area's representatives.听
Health department originally planned to design and conduct its own study of the radioactively contaminated creek
Close to 10,000 soil samples have been collected and tested from the creek, its banks and the surrounding flood plain.
The cleanup effort could take another 10 years.听
But Corps of Engineers says it doesn't have money to cover upfront costs.
The filmmakers highlight region's involvement in nuclear weapons production, and why more locals don't know about it.
Hazelwood kept the park open during the summer while cleanup began
The Army Corps confirmed, for the first time, the discovery of radioactive contamination on some residential properties.
Most affected properties are along Palm Drive, just northeast of Lindbergh and I-270.
Congressional delegation asks U.S. Department of Energy to look into putting Corps of Engineers in charge of radioactively contaminated landfill.听
St. Cin and Duchesne Parks along Coldwater Creek will be cleaned up over the next four months.听
Encapsulation might be safer than removal, experts say.听
The facilities were built for monthly and annual training.听
狐狸视频 County health department officials have joined their state counterparts in asking for further investigation into health concerns tha…
A state health report shows high rates of cancers in North County that have been associated with radiation exposure.
One of the leaders of a group of North County residents concerned about a possible link between contaminated Coldwater Creek and appendix canc…
The Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex poses no risk to public health; soil tests have not detected concerning levels of radiation, the Envi…
狐狸视频 County to launch an investigation of Coldwater Creek, which residents fear is linked to cancers and other diseases.
Survey of 3,300 people found 202 thyroid cancers or conditions, 113 brain tumors and 39 appendix cancers
About 150 fill union hall to discuss landfill fire, radioactive waste 听
But former residents say study ignores people who moved away before their cancers were diagnosed.
The group says regulators and Republic Services are downplaying the risk associated with an underground fire; the company says critics owe Bridgeton residents an apology.
