Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
5/2/2014
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster this week called on the Environmental Protection Agency to expand its efforts in testing for radiological contamination outside the fence-line of the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis. The EPA has maintained that no contamination has spread beyond the landfill and that the site remains protective of human health. The Agency has also indicated that it has no plans at this time to expand the testing area. “While EPA and the PRPs [potentially responsible parties] have made some progress in ascertaining the extent of radiological contamination within the perimeter of the West Lake complex, your work cannot stop at the fence line,” Koster said in a letter to EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks. “As you know, the public has become increasingly concerned that radiological material intended for disposal at West Lake may be present at locations outside the site itself. The history of West Lake provides a foundation for these community concerns and warrants further investigation by EPA and the PRPs.”
The public concern of the spread of radiological contamination has grown in recent weeks, especially in light of the news that a baseball field located near the landfill may potentially have some radiological hot spots. A group of concerned private citizens have been testing properties adjacent to the landfill, and one of their tests indicated a spike of an unknown isotope near a drainage ditch by the baseball field. Dawn Chapman, who has been leading the private testing, said that she has test results that show that something may be near the field. “We are in a situation where I have a sample from the drainage ditch that shows a gamma spike,” Chapman told RW Monitor this week. “We don’t even know what that means. We are trying to trace the isotope back, and obviously, a second sample is at a lab right now being tested. But, we aren’t scientists. We are just moms. I can’t tell you what that spike means. I can’t tell you even if it’s an accurate reading. I can’t tell you if it is or is not safe to be in that ball field. I just know that with that spike being there, my thing is: is that or is that not probable cause?”
Chapman said at this point the community wants the EPA to expand its testing area. “As a community all we are asking for is off-site testing right now to be done and for the proper characterization of what is at West Lake,” Chapman said. “It’s becoming very dire at this landfill. It’s becoming pretty evident that EPA is not going to be willing to step up and do what we are all asking.” Chapman and other community leaders met with Koster this week before he sent out his letter.
‘The Site Is Currently Protective of Public Health’
The EPA, for its part, maintains that the contamination has not spread and the site remains protective of human health. “EPA appreciates Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s recommendation that testing for radiological material be conducted outside the boundary of the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site,” the EPA said in a statement. “This agency continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide oversight of the development of the work plans for the responsible parties’ construction of the Isolation Barrier and the EPA’s selection of a long-term remedy for the site. All validated information available to the state of Missouri and EPA indicates the radiologically-impacted material remains confined to the site and that the site is currently protective of public health. As the EPA continues developing our work plans we’ll assess all available data and make determinations that will address any remaining testing requirements.”
In regards to the test results from the field, EPA spokesman Chris Whitley said that they have received a copy of the results and are currently analyzing their meaning. “We have only recently received a print-out of raw data, and we have not yet begun to fairly analyze or interpret it,” Whitley said. “As such, we can make no statement to its validity, nor can we draw any meaningful conclusions from it at this time. Similarly, at least for now, it does not change our belief that the site remains protective. There are no current plans by EPA for sampling at the athletic complex/baseball field.”
The West Lake Landfill cleanup project has taken on an added sense of urgency after recent reports revealed that the site contains more radioactive waste closer to the smoldering fire than previously thought. Currently, the West Lake Landfill is under the supervision of the EPA’s Superfund program, which took over responsibility for the site in 1990. The EPA is conducting an engineering survey and groundwater analysis of the site to determine the best location to construct an isolation barrier to prevent the spread of a smoldering fire located near the radioactive part of the landfill.
Teamsters Protest Republic Services
Meanwhile, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have called on investors of Republic Services, the company in charge of the West Lake Landfill, to take a closer look at what they deem “gross mismanagement.” In an op-ed appearing in the Huffington Post, Teamster General President James Hoffa wrote that investors, included high-profile ones like Bill Gates, need to understand the “stalling” and the “mismanagement” by the company’s executives, especially when it comes to the radioactive waste at the landfill. “Doing what’s right, right away costs less in the long run,” Hoffa wrote. “That’s why Teamsters have joined with local community activists and the greater St. Louis region to challenge Republic to do right by the local Bridgeton community and protect the jobs of our hard-working members across America by expediting the cleanup. Even if investors don’t care about health and safety of communities and workers, they should pay attention to Republic executives’ faulty handling of the Bridgeton/West Lake situation. It is time for them to start asking some real questions.”
Republic dismissed the accusations by the Teamsters and re-affirmed its commitment to solving the problem. “Republic Services is committed to solving the complex odor and leachate issues at the Bridgeton Landfill and has made a considerable investment to rectify a situation it didn’t create,” Republic spokesman Richard Callow said. “As it relates to the remedy issues at the adjacent West Lake Landfill, that landfill is under the oversight of the EPA as part of their Superfund program. Republic’s subsidiaries, along with two additional potentially responsible parties (Department of Energy and Cotter Corporation), await the EPA’s remedy decision as to how that clean-up will be implemented.”
Callow added that the op-ed and supporting report put out by the Teamsters was riddled with errors. “The ‘report’ cited in the Huffington Post op-ed contains numerous errors that are presented as facts,” Callow said. “The organization that wrote the report may be intentionally trying to be inflammatory on a topic that they know little to nothing about. It is certainly exhibiting a complete lack of understanding in how public companies work. Republic Services, Inc. is a publicly traded entity and follows SEC and financial accounting rules. Republic discloses in its public filings to its stakeholders any material expenses at the time that the expenses are known and can be estimated.”
