Radioactive Waste

After a visit to St. Louis, the new EPA administrator said he was moved by the communities living with radioactive contamination.

The legislation also removes the cap on how much can be spent on an investigation.

Coldwater Creek lies at the heart of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, a catastrophe that over three generations likely afflicted many thousands of people across the breadth of the St. Louis region.

Missouri U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley brought EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to the St. Louis region on Monday to hear from residents and tour sites contaminated with Manhattan Project-era radioactive waste.

The landfill is a prioritized superfund site that is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. It contains radioactive waste left over from St. Louis’ role in the Manhattan project.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources asked that the EPA assume oversight of the Bridgeton Landfill, arguing it may contain nuclear waste like the adjacent West Lake Landfill.

Federal officials discovered the contamination was far more widespread than previously known, the EPA announced Friday.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said concerns about cost killed earlier efforts to renew a program for people exposed to radioactive waste. Hawley hopes a new compromise with a lower mandatory spending price tag will finally break through.

The committee, established to hear testimony on the issue and recommend legislation, will meet Oct. 15.

The bill to provide compensation for radioactive waste victims in Missouri has stalled in Congress.