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Missouri lawmakers demand passing bill to buyout residents near West Lake Landfill

A cautionary sign at a fence around the West Lake Landfill Superfund site, which contains World War II-era nuclear waste.
Véronique LaCapra | St. Louis Public Radio
A cautionary sign at a fence around the West Lake Landfill Superfund site, which contains World War II-era nuclear waste.

Updated at 6 p.m. with details from a report — As Missouri lawmakers stress that time is running out to provide state assistance for moving residents away from the West Lake Landfill, environmental lawyers claim that the Superfund site has contaminated more homes in Bridgeton. 

A report released this week by the attorneys said radioactive isotopes, including polonium, lead, radon and thorium are above naturally occurring levels in four homes in Spanish Village. The same lawyers represent a couple who in November sued the landfill owner, Republic Services, and other companies associated with the waste after having their home tested for contaminants.

St. Louis Public Radio reached out to multiple sources to verify the test results, but was unable to find an expert to provide a comment. 

Last month, the Senate approved a bill that could help as many as 91 families in the Spanish Village subdivision in Bridgeton sell their homes to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Spanish Village is the closest neighborhood to the landfill, which contains radioactive waste that sits about 600 feet from an underground smoldering fire at the Bridgeton Landfill.  

But the legislative session ends Friday and the state House hasn't voted on the bill that's meant to help residents in that neighborhood. 

"We are running out of time to do the right thing and take care of people in my district," said Rep. Mark Matthiesen, R-Maryland Heights.

Lawmakers and residents are worried that the Superfund site has caused local cases of cancer and autoimmune disease. Such claims have been disputed by federal regulators and Republic Services.

Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, D-University City, who sponsored the bill, threatened to filibuster any issue that blocks the measure. 

"We need state action and we need it now," she said Tuesday. "There is no time for games, and I am prepared to shut things down in the Senate if necessary. We are not playing around at all. This is about saving the lives of Missourians, period. Saving the lives of people who do not deserve to live in hell every single day." 

Rep. Mark Mattheisen, Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal and Rep. Justin Hill urge legislators to pass a bill to buy out residents near the West Lake landfill Superfund site.
Credit Krissy Rechtlich | St. Louis Public Radio
Rep. Mark Mattheisen, Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal and Rep. Justin Hill urge legislators to pass a bill to buy out residents near the West Lake landfill Superfund site.

Lawyers representing Spanish Village residents are testing homes in the neighborhood for radioactive contamination.

"The truth is that there's radioactive contamination in at least five homes in that one neighborhood and we will continue to test additional homes as people come forward," attorney Winston Calvert said.

Environmental Protection Agency officials also are investigating allegations of radioactive contamination near Bridgeton.  

"This has personally affected my family," Republican Rep. Justin Hill of St. Charles said. "One hundred percent of my wife's family has cancer or autoimmune diseases. She grew up a half-mile from the Latty Avenue site [near Coldwater Creek]. Those chemicals are in the West Lake Landfill. So if it's hurt thousands of people of St. Louis County and it remains to be a threat today, this is an issue the entire state has to address." 

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Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Eli Chen is the science and environment reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. She comes to St. Louis after covering the eroding Delaware coast, bat-friendly wind turbine technology, mouse love songs and various science stories for Delaware Public Media/WDDE-FM. Before that, she corralled robots and citizen scientists for the World Science Festival in New York City and spent a brief stint booking guests for Science Friday’s live events in 2013. Eli grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where a mixture of teen angst, a love for Ray Bradbury novels and the growing awareness about climate change propelled her to become the science storyteller she is today. When not working, Eli enjoys a solid bike ride, collects classic disco, watches standup comedy and is often found cuddling other people’s dogs. She has a bachelor’s in environmental sustainability and creative writing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has a master’s degree in journalism, with a focus on science reporting, from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.