The Missouri House has passed legislation that would widen who can ask for an investigation into radioactive waste contamination.
The bill passed unanimously 152-0 and now goes to the Senate.
Currently, the Department of Natural Resources may use its Radioactive Waste Investigation fund to look into concerns of waste exposure submitted by a “local governing body.”
The proposed law would also allow for community groups and individuals “in the jurisdiction of an area of concern” to submit requests for an investigation.
Rep. Mark Matthiesen, R-O’Fallon, who is the sponsor of the bill, said he won’t stop pushing for this legislation.
“So people can be informed about the risks and we can compel the federal government to take responsibility and clean up the mess that they brought to our state,” Matthiesen said.
In addition to widening who can ask for an investigation, the legislation allows the department to seek a warrant to access property owned by governmental agencies they believe is contaminated.
If the property is owned privately, the agency must have the owner’s permission to test.
The bill also eliminates the cap on how much the Department of Natural Resources can spend on an investigation. Currently that cap is $150,000.
Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, had legislation of her own that removed the limit.
“My portion of this removes that cap completely to allow us, as the General Assembly, to appropriate as we see fit,” Proudie said.
The consequences of radioactive waste in Missouri, including in Coldwater Creek and Weldon Spring, have gotten more attention from state and federal lawmakers the past few years.
Proudie recalled her personal history related to the Latty Avenue site.
“I am chronically sick, the only person in my family that has lupus. It's not a hereditary thing that I got, it just kind of happened. That's because we used to play on Latty, me and my cousins at my grandma's house in Hazelwood would run around and play all around that toxic area,” Proudie said.
Missouri U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has advocated for federal legislation compensating St. Louisans from exposure to radioactive waste from U.S. nuclear tests or uranium enrichment.
Lee Zeldin, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has promised action on cleaning up the West Lake Landfill, located in north St. Louis County.
