Robert Criss
Professor, Washington University in St. Louis
Risk and Character of Radioactive Waste at the West Lake Landfill
“The radwaste will become considerably more radioactive for the next ~9000 years. Subsequently, that peak level will slowly attenuate, but radioactivity will not diminish to present-day levels for several hundred thousand years. Remedial action is necessary, following sufficient study.”
Daniel McKeel
Ret. Pathologist, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
West Lake Landfill (WLL) Proposed Plan
Extended Comments on West Lake Landfill Flood Plain Issues
“The West Lake Landfill is not designed to safely contain radioactive wastes by any criteria of any regulatory agency (NRC, EPA, DOE, MDNR). Yet very hot nuclear weapons waste from Mallinckrodt Chemical Works Uranium Division was dumped there illegally by Cotter Corp. in 1973. The public was not protected from these wastes in any manner for the next 3.5 decades even though the WLL radionuclides were characterized by the early 1980s. This is truly shameful and represents gross negligence. Nearby residents in Spanish Village, daily workers at Earth City, and trash haulers employed at other parts of the landfill were placed at high risk. Now there is an opportunity to correct all of this by excavating and removing the rad waste to a licensed federal facility such as the representative from ENERGY SOLUTIONS (merged with Envirocare) outlined at the 3/27/08 public meeting in Bridgeton. Yet a half-way remedy was selected that will fully protect no one.”
Robert Alvarez
Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies
Document Tracking Legacy Radionuclides in St. Louis, Missouri, via Unsupported 210Pb
The West Lake Landfill: A Radioactive Legacy ofthe Nuclear Arms Race
“Because of the removal of uranium at Mallinckrodt from the residues disposed at the West Lake site, radioactive decay products of uranium were highly concentrated. In particular, the high ratio of Thorium-230 to Radium-226 indicates that as thorium-230 decays, there will be a substantial “in-growth” of alpha radioactivity – meaning that the radioactivity in the West Lake landfill will increase by 10 to 100 times over a 9,100- year period.”
Marco Kaltofen, PhD, PE (Civil, MA), C. NSE
Principal Investigator, Boston Chemical Data
Document Tracking Legacy Radionuclides in St. Louis, Missouri, via Unsupported 210Pb
Lucas Hixson
Nuclear Researcher, Chicago
Co-Founder, Clean Futures Fund (CFF)
“You can only imagine what was in that top 15 to 18 inches. There’s never been an accurate characterization of [contamination at] the landfill. None of the data that has been released is indicative of the 8,700 tons of leached barium sulfate.”
Link to Video and all images from the Symposium
Kay Drey
Anti-Nuclear Activist
An open letter to Sen. Claire McCaskill: Tell EPA to move radioactive waste at West Lake Landfill
“Leaving this radioactive waste in place is potentially dangerous. For one thing, the landfill is in the Missouri Rver flood plain. What happens if there is a flood? The risk is far too high that the contamination could leak out into the surrounding area. In addition, the wastes are upstream from drinking water intakes of north St. Louis County, the city of St. Louis, Jefferson County, and other areas farther downstream on the Mississippi River — and upwind from the entire St. Louis region. Do we dare threaten our drinking water and the air we breathe?”
C.D. Stelzer
Award-Winning Investigative Journalist, Director
“On a sultry Sunday evening more than 20 years ago, as a much younger man, I made my first unceremonious visit to Latty Avenue in Hazelwood, Mo. on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. There are those who look back with nostalgia on the World War II era. The tendency is to glorify the past and brand its denizens as the America’s Greatest Generation. What I discovered at Latty Avenue on that humid summer night in the waning years of the 20th Century was something much darker.”
The First Secret City on HEC-TV
Website: The First Secret City
Tony West
Director of “Safe Side of the Fence”
“I would like to see more focus on the system that allows people to get away with dumping these materials in the first place. This isn’t the only landfill like this. We need to fix these problems on the front end because once they get to this stage there are no easy answers.“
Robbin Ellison Dailey
Bridgeton Resident, Spanish Village Subdivision
“I live at Ground Zero, less than half a mile of that Burning Out Of Control Superfund Site. West Lake Landfill/Bridgeton Landfill is the Best Kept Dirty Secret in the St. Louis region. Our quality of life as been destroyed and our home values have plummeted as a result of Republic Services’ mismanagement, negligence, and inadequacies at their landfills. We want FUSRAP to come in and properly address and clean up this site.”
Michael Dailey
Bridgeton Resident,
Spanish Village Subdivision
“This is no way for anyone to have to live!”
Christen Commuso
Photographer, Founder of Humans of West Lake
Former Maryland Heights Resident
“Meet me. I am not just the creator and photographer of this page. I share your fears. I share your sorrows. I am one of you. In an 11 month period, I had my gallbladder removed, a total hysterectomy, an adrenal gland removed and thyroid cancer. My remaining adrenal gland also has tumors and there is an unclassified lesion in my liver. I am in a constant state of pain. This photo was taken directly after a 6.5 hour surgery to remove my adrenal gland and thyroid. They are mutilating my body. If the disease continues at this rate, they are going to run out of body parts to remove.”
Debi Disser
In 2007, my brother Doug was diagnosed with an aggressive, rare form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme; stage 4. The very next day, he underwent a four hour surgery to remove the baseball-sized tumor. Due to the stage and size of the tumor, Doug’s prognosis was only 18 months to live, he survived 14 months, he was 43 years old.
As children, Denise, Debi and Doug (pictured) grew up in the now nonexistent Brownleigh neighborhood near the Manhattan Project radioactive waste storage site at the St. Louis Airport (SLAPS). Doug also played baseball and attended festivals at the Berkeley ball fields, which were later closed because of radioactive contamination originating from SLAPS. In his adult years, he worked in an 3-man office just a mile or so from the radioactive contaminated West Lake Landfill. His coworker would also be diagnosed with brain cancer but survived.
Debi works with Just Moms STL as a their researcher, videographer, and website manager in hopes of saving other families the heartache of losing loved ones caused by exposure.
“For the movie [Atomic Homefront] to premiere on the anniversary of Doug’s death is no coincidence to me. It will be very difficult to watch, but I feel like my brother will be with me. No matter where I go, I know he’s there. I’ll never forget why I fight so hard.”
Meagan Beckermann
Bridgeton Resident
“On this beautiful day, it would fill and warm my heart to have the windows open and my children playing outside. I love feeling the breeze come in the windows while listening to basketballs bouncing and children laughing. I want to see my son running with his dog in the backyard when I look out the kitchen window. I miss this! Luckily I had that with my now 14 year old as we lived elsewhere. I don’t have this with my 6 year old. Its just one of the simple pleasures that has been ripped out from under my feet by Rep.Servcs. I can never get back the memories, joy and serenity that this big bully company has stolen from my family and I.”
THIS COMPANY NEEDS TO STEP UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING! They need to assist those of us in this community that want to move. I personally do not want any type of additional compensation, I just want to be able to move so that I can have my life back. But for now, I will stay inside my stuffy house on this beautiful day to get things done and ask my husband to please take my son as far away as possible from our home so that he can play outside and breath fresh air.” (February 27, 2016)
Byron Clemens
St. Louis Resident
“I support our collective effort to make the world safer for future generations by cleaning up Manhattan Project atomic weapons waste – now.”
Tonya Mason
Bridgeton Resident, Spanish Village Subdivision
“We can’t open our windows. Our eyes burn when we walk outside. We vomit when we get out of our cars. We know there’s something in that dirt!”
Byron DeLear
Author, Media Producer, Enviro-Entrepreneur
“As we’ve said before, after 42 years of continuous finger-pointing, an endless train of studies and reports, little has been done to clean-up the West Lake site. FUSRAP is the pertinent clean-up program for nuclear weapons-related waste and this is undoubtedly an important step on the road to bringing a safe and permanent solution to this community.”
Radioactive St. Louis: West Lake Landfill Nuclear Waste & Liability
• Part 1: Does Existing Law Already Order the ‘Recall’ of Radwaste at West Lake?
• Part 2: Does Existing Law Already Order the ‘Recall” of Radwaste at West Lake?
Ashlee Plume
Prior Maryland Heights Resident
“This week is my last week living in Maryland Heights. After a very long mental struggle, I decided to uproot my family from the place we have called home for 28 years. I’m a Pattonville alumni and my son is in 4th grade in Pattonville. It’s painful to leave but this decision was solely based on the fact that I do not want to raise my family near this landfill. Too many times I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night by that horrible smell. I hope Republic Services and Governor Jay Nixon are happy knowing they’re running out long time residents of this city. I can only imagine the revenue effects this will have on the area should other residents and companies follow suit. What a shame, this used to be a great area to raise a family. I will continue spreading awareness from my new home.” 05/16/2016
Cory Ell
Resident
“It almost feels like we’re not going to get the truth until something happens; and then it will be too late. I feel like my best course of action is to uproot my family and move as far away as I can.”
C. J. Mese (wife Smith-Johnson)
Resident
HAVE A 
LET US BREATHE SMART!
