U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin is promising quick action to clean up the West Lake Landfill, a north St. Louis County site that’s become a focal point in a decades-long struggle over radioactive waste exposure.
“This is something that should have been done a long time ago,” Zeldin told reporters on Monday.
Zeldin and Missouri U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley spent some of Monday in Bridgeton and Hazelwood touring areas that were contaminated with radioactive material stemming from the Manhattan Project.
In 1973, radioactive waste from that project was dumped into West Lake Landfill. The EPA designated the landfill a superfund site, which means it’s among the nation’s most contaminated land.
Several north St. Louis County residents spent nearly an hour discussing in often gripping detail how radioactive waste exposure sickened them and their loved ones. Zeldin then asked local staffers to prepare in three weeks a timetable about what it would take to clean up West Lake Landfill.
“What are the resources that are needed? What are the barriers that are in front of us? What are the assumptions that you need to make in order to give us the most ambitious timeline possible?” Zeldin said. “I'm not asking for a long report. I don't want you guys to spend the next three weeks working on this instead of advancing the issues that we're talking about. So informally, something quick — that's just a timeline and assessment from the team as to where we are.”
One of the people who spoke to Zeldin and Hawley was Debbie Neuman, a Bridgeton resident who said she’s faced a host of health problems because her house is so close to West Lake Landfill.
“I feel like I’m at the hospital and doctor’s office more than I’m at home,” Neuman said.
Kim Bakker, who works at SSM DePaul Hospital, described north county residents as “frightened” and added that cleanup is “vital to growth and prosperity.”
“This community deserves better. I'm a part of this community,” Bakker said. “I deserve better as well. There has been a complete lack of confidence in the EPA for a very long time. I think we're headed in the right direction, so let's be really positive, but there's been a lack of transparency, just borderline dishonesty.”
Zeldin addresses job cuts
Like other federal agencies, the EPA recently started laying people off, and Zeldin faced questions from reporters about whether his agency would have enough people to actually follow through on cleaning up contaminated areas.
But Zeldin said that he doesn’t expect staffing to be an issue when it comes to remediating sites like West Lake Landfill.
“I agree with the argument that there are communities that have been left behind,” Zeldin said. “When President Trump talks about a golden age for America, he says for all Americans, regardless of race, gender, background, creed, this is about helping all Americans across this country.”
Asked why the St. Louis region would be prioritized when there are many other places in the country with heavily polluted areas, Zeldin said he was particularly moved by residents who shared their stories with him.
“Anyone who's been listening in the last hour, this hits different,” Zeldin said.
Hawley said he’s also hoping Congress reauthorizes and expands a program known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would compensate people who became sick because of radioactive waste exposure.
Hawley’s legislation passed twice in the Senate but stalled in the House. He said he’s optimistic that House Speaker Mike Johnson can pass something out of his chamber that will provide restitution for people around the country — as well as the St. Louis region, including the Madison and Venice areas in the Metro East, which have similar contamination issues.
“I can tell you, I'm in constant contact with House members,” Hawley said. “I wish I had a vote in the House. I wish I had 50 votes in the House. I don't have a vote, but I can tell you what: The United States Senate has passed this legislation twice. Our coalition in the House continues to grow.
“If this were put on the floor, it would pass,” he added.
