The state of Missouri on Friday formally established a fund for investigation of potential radioactive waste contamination in any jurisdiction.
The fund, which would receive no more than $150,000 in any fiscal year, was included in broader legislation addressing operations of the state Department of Natural Resources. Gov. Michael Parson (R) signed the bill on Friday.
“Upon written request by a local governing body expressing concerns of radioactive waste contamination in a specified area within its jurisdiction, the department of natural resources shall use moneys in the radioactive waste investigation fund to develop and conduct an investigation, using sound scientific methods, for the specified area of concern,” according to the bill.
The St. Louis area is home to the West Lake Landfill, where nearly 9,000 tons of leached barium sulfate from the Manhattan Project was deposited in the 1970s in a mixture with 38,000 tons of soil to cover trash. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February selected partial excavation as its preferred means for cleaning up the contamination at the landfill, part of a larger EPA Superfund site. And on June 9 the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said there could be increased danger for cancer to people who lived near a St. Louis County creek contaminated by radioactive waste from Manhattan Project uranium extraction operations.
In filing a request with the state, the bill says, the local jurisdiction would be required to cite a particular area of concern and provide records on that issue. Requests would be addressed on a first-come, first served basis, through priority could go to areas near federally designated sites known or believed to contain certain contaminants. The probe would be conducted by state or federal entities, or by a “qualified contractor” selected by the Department of Natural Resources. It would involve collection and analysis of samples to check for contaminants that would require remediation under federal guidelines.
