ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ 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 ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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 .
(55) updates to this series since
The federal government wants to test soil and water at a popular hiking spot in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County for radiological contamination.
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works processed uranium ore for the Manhattan Project beginning in the 1940s; radioactive waste from that production contaminated areas in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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’s close relatives died of cancer in Florissant near Coldwater Creek. Now she is the author of “Nuked: Echoes of the Hiroshima Bomb in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.â€Â
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.
“From a radiological standpoint, the school is safe,†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 “entire school property†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 ºüÀêÊÓƵ for the Manhattan Project during World War II. We …
The GAO will evaluate the Defense Department’s 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.Â
Radioactive contamination in the area has raised safety concerns.
The cost of removing radioactive contamination, a legacy of ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ key role in the production of atomic weapons, continues to climb.Â
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 ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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.Â
The study is a critical step toward obtaining additional resources for residents, said Kim Visintine of the group who pushed for the study.Â
Exposure to the radiological contaminants that polluted the creek could raise the risks of bone cancer, lung cancer and leukemia.
At a packed “listening session†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, ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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.Â
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 officeÂ
The bill still must pass the U.S. House, where similar legislation has been proposed by the area's representatives.Â
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.Â
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.Â
St. Cin and Duchesne Parks along Coldwater Creek will be cleaned up over the next four months.Â
Encapsulation might be safer than removal, experts say.Â
The facilities were built for monthly and annual training.Â
ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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…
ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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 Â
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.
The AP examined hundreds of pages of internal memos, inspection reports and other items dating to the early 1950s.
A previous settlement set aside $12.5 million for that went to groups including Just Moms STL, the Pattonville Fire Protection District, Bridgeton, SSM Health Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
More than 125 people attended a town hall meeting on the issue Monday in St. Charles.
While a law that gives compensation to victims of radiation exposure expired Friday, hope persists that it will be renewed and potentially expanded to Missouri.
A week after announcing the successful removal of radioactivity near Florissant's Jana Elementary School, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is hosting a public meeting about its cleanup work.
Radioactive contamination found beneath some Florissant homes is not potent enough to exceed a key safety threshold or warrant removal, officials said this week.
Sites around the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area were contaminated with radioactive material in the wake of the country’s atomic bomb effort.