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Event
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West Lake Landfill Superfund Site Public Meeting |
Event Info |
Is a St. Louis County landfill to become a permanent radioactive waste dump?
You will have a chance -- on Thursday, March 27, 2008 -- to attend a public meeting in Bridgeton to hear federal representatives tell us it's a good idea to keep radioactive wastes in West Lake Landfill, and that levees never fail.
We need to tell them we want our air and drinking water protected. Just your presence at this meeting will help.
Radioactive wastes are in our backyard. Wastes from the early production of nuclear weapons were illegally dumped in West Lake Landfill, next to Earth City in St. Louis County, in 1973. The landfill is located in the Missouri River floodplain, upstream from major St. Louis City & County drinking water intakes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to leave the wastes where they are and merely cover them with rocks, construction rubble, and clay. Even more alarming is the fact that no barrier would be required underneath the wastes. The wastes would remain in contact with groundwater that flows into the Missouri River.
The wastes should be excavated and transported to a federally licensed radioactive waste facility, away from water and away from people. During excavation and cleanup, a temporary shelter designed with negative internal air pressure should be installed above the waste pile area, with filters to isolate and trap radioactive dust and gases. Such structures are used at other contaminated sites and can work here.
The radioactive wastes at West Lake will continue giving off harmful particles and rays for thousands of years, and beyond. St. Louis was not even able to keep track of dioxin at Times Beach for ten years. How can the EPA possibly expect us to keep track of uranium wastes for 4.5 billion years, times ten? Especially if these dangerous materials would be left in the floodplain of one of the longest rivers in the world.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been directing the cleanup of nuclear weapons waste sites in St. Louis since 1998, and expects to continue in the St. Louis area until at least 2013. Congress should mandate that the Corps extend its cleanup operation to include the West Lake radioactive wastes before its trained and experienced contractors are dispersed to other cities.
Please help convince our federal, state and local officials that floodplains are for floodwaters --- NOT for radioactive wastes.
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Event Time
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6:30 - 8:30pm |
Event Date
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Thursday, March 27 |
Event Location
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