Some Missouri residents and lawmakers are calling for faster cleanup at several toxic sites in the St. Louis area.
“We always felt like we’re being gaslit by these federal agencies, like the way they would answer questions, the way they were just very nonchalant,” Just Moms STL co-founder Dawn Chapman told Fox News. “They really should have gone in there before any of this was built and cleaned the creek. They had a chance to really prevent all the harm that we’re seeing now. And for whatever reason, they chose not to.”
Chapman’s group, which she founded with her neighbor Karen Nickel, advocates for the cleanup of contaminated sites in St. Louis.
“We’ve talked to a lot of people that live just less than a half a mile from West Lake Landfill,” Nickel said. “Since those homes were built there back in the late ’50s, they had no idea that a landfill was even there.”
The Army Corps of Engineers has been working at West Lake Landfill and Coldwater Creek in Missouri. (Army Corps of Engineers)
MORE PEOPLE EXPOSED TO MANHATTAN PROJECT CHEMICALS DESERVE COMPENSATION, ADVOCATES SAY
Nickel and Chapman said when they bought their homes, they were unaware the landfill was located nearby and that it was designated as a superfund site.
“It was like, what the heck is that? I didn’t know to even look for that when I purchased my house,” Chapman said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been providing updates on the cleanups using social media, making information accessible online.
“There are some of the activists that are in the area and the community members that are very strong, that are always willing to provide information. We really tried to beef up our relationship with the key community members, and I think that’s paying off,” EPA Region 7 Superfund and Emergency Management Division Director Bob Jurgens said.
The EPA added the West Lake Landfill to its national priorities list in 1990. The list is part of its Superfund sites program documenting hazardous waste sites…
