Featured Image: “A photo taken in 1960 of deteriorating steel drums containing radioactive residues near Coldwater Creek, by the Mallinckrodt-St. Louis Sites Task Force Working Group (State Historical Society of Missouri, Kay Drey Mallinckrodt Collection, 1943-2006).”
Homes near St. Louis County creek are being tested after radioactive contamination found in yards.
Cancer: Contamination from the sites has increased the risk of cancer for St. Louis residents who grew up playing in the creek .”
AP News: “The St. Louis area has been involved in uranium processing since World War II, which helped develop nuclear weapons and provide a defense during the Cold War. The process has resulted in contamination at several sites, including the St. Louis airport, Latty Avenue, and Weldon Spring.”
“Uranium processing in the St. Louis area played a pivotal role in developing the nuclear weapons that helped bring an end to World War II and provided a key defense during the Cold War. But eight decades later, the region is still dealing with contamination at several sites.”
“Nuclear waste stored near Lambert Airport made its way into Coldwater Creek in the 1960s. Many people in that area believe the contamination is responsible for cancers.”
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal agency is examining soil beneath homes in a small suburban St. Louis subdivision to determine if residents are living atop Cold War era nuclear contamination. But activists say the testing needs to be far more widespread.
“St. Louis nuclear waste chain of reaction:
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works: Refined uranium in downtown St. Louis during the war that was used in the first sustained nuclear chain reaction
St. Louis airport: Stored uranium at the end of the war
Latty Avenue: Industrial sites in suburban Hazelwood
Weldon Spring: Quarry next to the Missouri River
West Lake Landfill: Private company illegally dumped waste in 1970s, and landfill declared a federal toxic Superfund site in 1990
The waste has caused contamination at several sites, including:
Coldwater Creek
Runs through the heart of suburban neighborhoods, and contamination from the sites has polluted it for miles.”
Media News Global Voices 