***This article was updated on 9/10/2014 to clarify the Corps role at the site. USACE is not participating in the construction of the barrier. Rather, their role is assist the EPA by providing technical review and oversight of the site owner’s cleanup plans/activities.
Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/5/2014
Construction of a planned isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill near St. Louis is not expected to begin for 18 months, according to a report from the Army Corps of Engineers released last week. The Corps conducted the analysis on the isolation barrier in an effort to aid the Environmental Protection Agency in its efforts to isolate a subsurface smoldering fire near the radioactively-contaminated area of the landfill. Because the extent of the radiologically impacted materials (RIM) in the affected area is still not known, more investigative work is needed. “Because of the subsurface investigative work that remains to be completed and the technical challenges for an IB constructed within a landfill, the duration of the design and construction process will be lengthy,” the Corps report said. “The total design effort could require as much as 18 months from the start of design to the start of construction. There may be opportunities to accelerate the design process; however, the design effort should not be shortened to the point of sacrificing the quality of the design. This IB will be a complicated construction project, and the success of the construction work depends on the thoroughness of the design and planning effort.”
The Corps’ estimated schedule appears to run counter to the wishes of Missouri officials, who want to see the project more forward in a more timely fashion. Last month, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster called on the EPA to move forward more quickly with the isolation barrier. Koster, along with members of Missouri’s congressional delegation, has been critical of the EPA’s unclear timeline on the project. In response to the Corps report, Koster’s office pointed toward its letter to the EPA from last month. “As always, the health and safety of the public, including those who live and work around the landfill and those who rely on the Airport to provide safe flights, is our highest priority,” Koster said in a letter to EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks. “We remain frustrated with the slow pace of progress thus far. It is critically important that all participants in this project move with greater dispatch to ensure that all members of the public are protected.”
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 a nearby 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 the fire located near the radioactive part of the landfill. The EPA has also brought in the Army Corps of Engineers to assist the EPA by providing technical review and oversight of the site owner’s cleanup plans/activities at the site, after public outcry called for a more experienced approach to the cleanup.
