Exploring delays in studying radioactive fall-out waste in eastern Missouri and posting needed signs

Photo byLumin OsityonUnsplash

The issue of radioactive waste near St. Louis, Missouri isn't just part of the past that's been let go. It continues to be an ongoing concern and should have attention. And so many wonder why it has taken so long to be adequately addressed.

The radioactive waste has been in the St. Louis area since World War II when uranium processing began at various sites, including the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company. This contamination has persisted for decades, raising serious health and environmental concerns.

The Weldon Spring Uranium Feed Mill Plant was built by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1955. The plant was operated by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works of St. Louis which processed raw uranium ore that was shipped to other sites. After this plant closed in 1966, it was abandoned for 20 years.

Decontamination of the plant site didn’t start until the 1980s and wasn’t completed until 2001. Interestingly, it now has a 45-acre rubble mountain over the site and visitors can go there. Just hearing the words radioactive waste is unnerving.

Supposedly, the nuclear waste is incapable of being disturbed. The Weldon Spring Site Interpretive Center provides a history of the site including the clean-up. I first wrote about that site a year ago and couldn’t understand why it was turned into a place for visitors.

In October 2022, PBS News published an article, Radioactive waste found at Missouri elementary school, which reported on radioactive waste in a creek that traveled through part of suburban St. Louis. The article referred to a study that caused concern about a grade school being contaminated.

Contamination was found at Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri based on a report by Boston Chemical Data Corp. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also found contamination near Coldwater Creek which is near the school.

What is being done about it and was the safety of residents prioritized?

In July 2023, the Riverfront Times published Atomic Fallout: How the Feds Downplayed Radioactive Waste in St. Louis for 75 years. This article states that families who moved to the area of Coldwater Creek weren't informed about the radioactive waste.

Information found in documents seemed to indicate someone or some organization has been looking the other way for decades. Residents had every right to be upset and angry. People in communities have always deserved answers and action. All residents of the St. Louis area should have a safe environment to live in. This subject can't be placed on a back burner.

Moreover, you can't ignore the cancer cases in the area by those who have lived near contaminated sites. People who grew up near contaminated areas or still live near them and have had their health affected should be compensated. Those who were diagnosed with cancer or have died from rare cancers deserve to be compensated.

In December 2023, The Missouri Independent published Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense bill. According to the article, the provisions of the bill that would have compensated those exposed to the radiative waste were stripped from the bill.

Specialized spectrometry equipment, used to detect contamination.Photo bySt. Louis District, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers via Facebook.

In January 2024, St. Louis Public Radio reported that after decades, the federal government was finally going to put up warning signs around Coldwater Creek which could take until 2038 to be cleaned up.

Coldwater Creek runs by the St. Louis airport and through Florissant and Hazelwood before flowing into the Missouri River. The creek is contaminated by nuclear waste left over from the effort to build the first atomic bomb during World War II. (Source.)

In March 2024, it was reported that the U.S. Senate voted in favor of legislation to compensate those who developed cancer after being exposed to the World War II radioactive waste occurring in St. Louis. (See Missouri Independent's article of March 2024.) Then, it just needed to pass the House before its expiration date.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was passed during the 1990s by Congress to compensate those exposed to bomb testing and uranium miners. However, it only covered the victims of bomb testing. In 2022, the law was set to expire, but it was extended by President Joe Biden.

In June 2024, the RECA expired and never came up for a vote by the House of Representatives before its expiration date. Missouri was used as a dumping ground for toxic waste. Visit here to read about the RECA (updated July 19, 2024).

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is overseeing the clean-up of Coldwater Creek while the Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the plan being developed to take care of the situation at the West Lake Landfill. And in the interim, there's still the subject of those contaminated who deserve to be compensated.

Regarding the warning signs for Coldwater Creek, the first signs are finally going up in November 2024. It's taken a long time for this. There has to be a level of urgency for this longstanding issue.

The first signs are expected to go up in mid to late November 2024.Photo bySt. Louis District, U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers via Facebook.

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