Missouri lawmakers held an inaugural committee hearing Tuesday to investigate the health and environmental effects of nuclear waste in the state.
Community members who lived or worked near contaminated sites and representatives of government agencies provided testimony and answered questions from state representatives.
The Special Interim Committee on the Impact of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Programs on Missouri was announced earlier this month. The committee has two objectives: to document concerns about nuclear contamination and to provide proposed policy solutions. State Rep. Tricia Byrnes is chair of the committee and led the questioning.
“I'm very hopeful that we will be able to produce some results and some conversations today that will lead to some tangible action items,” Byrnes said. “That may not be just legislation, but also could be legislation to overall help Missourians.”
The lawmakers began the hearing by questioning Phil Moser, the program manager of the Army Corps of Engineers’ cleanup efforts in the St. Louis region.
Multiple sites in St. Louis and St. Louis County are contaminated with waste from the manufacturing of nuclear weapons during World War II, according to the Army Corps. The agency is working to clean up the lingering radioactive material, but Moser said that work will not be finished until 2036. The Army Corps plans to turn the site over for legacy management by 2038.
“It's taken a long time, and we understand and acknowledge that,” Moser said. “I will say that we are looking at every aspect, as mentioned earlier, to try and see if there's any lessons learned, things that we can incorporate, to move faster.”
Byrnes and Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-St. Louis County, recounted frustration that the Corps often cannot answer questions about the potential health effects of the contamination in the region. Proudie also questioned the Corps’ efforts to communicate about the contamination locations and the potential risk.
“In almost 10 years, no one has popped up at the Berkeley City Council meeting and was like, ‘Hey, y'all are sitting on goo’ or, you know, to tell you anything beyond what they've heard on the news every now and then,” Proudie said.
Kim Visintine, a founder of the Coldwater Creek Group, talked about the work her group has done to document cases of cancer and other health effects in people who lived near the contaminated creek in north St. Louis County. She said the community should push for more official health studies in partnership with governmental agencies.
“At the end of the day, if we don’t have the factual data to go up against the government, we’re not going to get any results,” Visintine said.
The committee is not permanent and is not guaranteed to be renewed when a new House speaker is in place for the next Missouri legislative session. Byrnes said she hopes to continue the committee’s work in a more permanent way.
Sarah Kellogg contributed to this report.
