EPA Putting Off Decisions About West Lake Landfill Clean Up
Date Posted: November 28, 2016
Posted In: News,
From St. Louis Public Radio: The Environmental Protection Agency has extended its deadline to propose a plan to clean up the West Lake Landfill Superfund site.
Federal officials had aimed to decide whether to partially or fully remove the World War II-era nuclear waste at the landfill by the end of December, but they decided to postpone the decision. Recently, there were allegations that radioactive contamination from the West Lake Landfill was found on residential property.
The radioactive waste sits approximately 600 feet from an underground smoldering fire contained by the Bridgeton Landfill. At a press conference Tuesday, EPA Region 7 Administrator Mark Hague said the agency needs more time to make a decision, though he could not say how long the deadline will be extended.
“We need to ensure we get good sound science and engineering information to make a decision,” Hague said. “We need to get this right and we will get it right.”
Hague added that the site’s responsible parties have delayed in giving the federal agency necessary data to help determine a remedy.
“Science is good. It should be the guide,” said Russ Knocke, spokesperson for landfill owner Republic Services. “The community has waited eight years for more testing. We can wait a few more months for science.”
Area activist and Maryland Heights resident Dawn Chapman wasn’t surprised that the EPA announced an extension to their deadline, but wishes that the agency admitted earlier that they needed more time.
“It’s disappointing to see a decision looming and it feels like it keeps getting pushed further and further back, that finish line,” Chapman said. “But I think that people need to understand that this is really a process and this site is complicated.”