In January, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that radioactive contamination at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site is more widespread than previously known. To clean the site, the agency will now have to dig up and dispose of an additional 20,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris — more than three football fields piled one yard high with material.
Nearby resident Dawn Chapman said she’s frustrated that it’s taken decades for the agency to announce what community members — many of whom have died or suffered illness from the exposure — knew for years.
“I'm really angry about it,” she said. “While I appreciate all the hard work that EPA has put in, now they are a couple decades too late, and that is going to directly correlate to illnesses in my community: to my son's illness, my husband's illness and all the people around us.”
Chapman co-founded Just Moms STL 12 years ago to bring attention to the radioactive waste site. She told St. Louis on the Air that she’s disappointed that it’s taken decades for the EPA to conduct adequate testing on the site. When she began her campaign in 2013, she said the agency told her they knew where the extent of the waste was located.
“We were met with just a complete solid wall of, ‘Well, [testing] is not necessary,” Chapman said. “And now what we're faced with today is: ‘Well, yeah, it's there, but it's always been there.’ And it's like, ‘Yeah, no kidding. Do you think we put our lives on hold for a decade to fight you, to get you to do this testing, because we thought we were wrong?’”
The EPA estimates that removing the waste will cost $392 million. The agency has not released a timeline for when excavation might begin, but EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley that he plans to prioritize the cleanup and visit the site.
Chapman is hopeful that Zeldin’s visit will expedite the process.
“I'll never forget the previous Trump administration coming out on the site, and just looking at the change in their faces,” she said. “When you stand on top of this, and you look at World War II-era Manhattan Project waste that's just sat on the surface of a community — and all the other areas we know it's in now — it's staggering.
“We have a great cleanup plan that we fought really hard for,” Chapman added. “We can see it; it's on the horizon.”
For more on the West Lake Landfill cleanup, including how the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act could help affected community members, listen to Dawn Chapman and Missouri Independent reporter Allison Kite’s conversation on St. Louis on the Air. Hear the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
