St Loius Landfill Fire Moving Towards West Lake Nuclear Waste Site

reply to post by qmantoo
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No big surprise in this article as the EPA has played down situation after situation in this area just like the Times Beach incident. Here is a link to the latest story. Sorry I couldn't post when it cam out but I have been very busy with work.

www.ksdk.com...

Hope the link works. If it don't go to ksdk.com and search for Bridgeton Landfill.

Many questions still left to answer and authorities will continue to downplay the situation.

In a way, this incident is similar to the Bayou Corne one where folks cannot sell their houses after the event has been solved. Firstly, because no-one knows when that will be, and secondly, no-one else will want to live there ever again.


29May2013

Smoldering Landfill Could Threaten Nuclear Waste

Dawn Chapman can put up with the noxious smell caused by smoldering trash in a landfill near her suburban St. Louis home. But if the burning creeps close to buried nuclear waste, she's ready to get out.

It's a problem that worries many people in this densely populated area near Lambert Airport, where the trash burns just 1,200 feet from another landfill that holds radioactive waste dating back to the Manhattan Project, which created the first atomic bomb in the 1940s.

"We're talking about just walking away from our home, honestly," said Chapman, a mother of three young special-needs children. She's not comfortable selling the house, even if she could.

"I'm a moral person. I can't just sell it to another family. If I feel like it's unsafe for my children, how could I do that to somebody else?" she asked.

ALERT! Tornado Strikes At Radioactive Underground Landfill Fire In Saint Louis
pissinontheroses.blogspot.com...

Our readings once again confirm the airborne radioactivity levels follow the stench from the underground radioactive fire at the landfill.

Also:

RADIOACTIVITY ALERT! Noxious Fumes Reported Near Mills Mall In Hazelwood, Missouri (May 21,2013)

pissinontheroses.blogspot.com...

every time we were downwind of the underground radioactive fire (as evidenced by the stench) the airborne radioactive readings were 22% greater than the same measurements taken upwind

If the 1,200 feet that separated the two sites 5 months ago is now at 1,000 feet we have about 2 years before the the two collide if it continues at the present rate.

Since they are detecting radioactivity in the stench from the landfill. I suspect that the radioactive waste is leaking into the ground water and when the two sites meet and greet nobody really knows what is going to happen.

It does seem likely that a leaking storage facility might be a reason they are not even considering moving the waste.

8,700 tons of radioactive waste 1,000 feet away from an underground landfill fire and the EPA says it's OK. Riiiiiiight.

Feel like Slim Pickens riding the bomb down in St. Louis.

So, they have removed these large sections of concrete pipe which they say will make the smell less (Although I dont see how since the fire is still burning and the fumes have to go somewhere.)

Images and further details here
Bridgeton Landfill: One Step Closer to Not Smelling Horrible, Stopping Underground Fire

And of course, the obligatory "No health risk" article.
EPA report: Radioactive landfill material poses no health risk

The Environmental Protection Agency released a report Wednesday afternoon that says radioactive material at the West Lake Landfill isn't causing an immediate threat to the health of people who live nearby.
"The material remains contained, it's behind fences to prevent public access and the site does not emit radiation that poses a risk to health," said Karl Brooks, an EPA regional administrator.
The results are from an aerial survey conducted on March 8 to identify gamma radiation levels at the surface. An EPA crew conducted 16 low-level fly-bys and detected some places with readings six times higher than naturally occurring levels.
Brooks said the landfill was not tested for Alpha or Beta radiation because those particles cannot travel more than a few feet.
....
The EPA's report said the smoldering has not reached the radioactive material. But neither the state or federal government has released updated numbers to show how far away the fire is now. A few months ago it was 1,200 feet away, then in April Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said 1000 feet.

Whenever they put a rod or anything into the ground where the fire is, it will just make the fire burn harder. Very much like poking and re-arranging a bonfire, it makes it burn more brightly.

The EPA will hold a public meeting on June 25 at 6:30 pm at Pattonville High School. EPA spokespeople will discuss the aerial flyover tests as well as new groundwater testing.

Maybe someone who lives nearby can go along and report what was said?

They already have mutant worms that eat toxic waste the last thing we need them to be is resistant to fire!

On a serious note, it sounds like they are in a real tight spot on what to do to contain this underground fire. Hope they get it sorted it out fast.

Everyday I look for news on this story - Nothing.

Do you know this radioactive waste is being illegally stored in the Mississippi river bed? Any radioactive waste seeping in the ground water poses a threat all the way downstream and to the Gulf of Mexico.

If they are detecting higher radioactivity downwind of the stench, I believe it is already seeping into the landfill. I sense a huge coverup much like Tepco/Fukushima.

reply to post by qmantoo

In a way, this incident is similar to the Bayou Corne one where folks cannot sell their houses after the event has been solved. Firstly, because no-one knows when that will be, and secondly, no-one else will want to live there ever again.

Yup and the government has a huge liability because they put this # there illegally.

My next home will not be a FEMA camp. I will go with the body bag option.

My next home will not be a FEMA camp. I will go with the body bag option.

I like to think this too, but when it comes down to it, I dont know how many people would choose the bodybag over continued existence. I am not even sure about myself when the SHTF.

reply to post by qmantoo


I understand. I have played the scene out in my head enough times to feel comfortable with it.

At least 2 months AFTERWARDS, the surveys finally get released in May 2013 (the date printed on the report) I found it in the rss feed delivered to me on June 9th.

Radiological and Infrared Survey of West Lake Landfill Bridgeton, Missouri

The surveys were conducted on March 8, 2013, between 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon.

My friend saw a local news story on St. Louis CBS about the landfill this last week. She thought it strange that they didn't even mention the radioactive waste site next door.

CBS local did an update tonight. They said the pipe made it worse and now they don't know what to do. My friend who watched it said, again, no mention of a nuclear waste site 1,000 feet away.

Qumantoo nailed it when he said the pipe would make it worse.

Such a serious problem........

THIS is what we need there. Someone to really bring it to the attention of the national press and get things moving.

Erin Brockovich to visit West Lake Landfill

BRIDGETON, Mo. (KSDK) - She's become a household name for her work on environmental issues. Now, Erin Brockovich is coming to St. Louis, and is expected to address concerns about the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton.

The superfund site is home to decades-old nuclear waste left over from the Manhattan Project. Concerned residents lobbied for Brockovich to bring more attention to the issue.

You may remember Erin Brockovich from the movie of the same name. Julia Roberts played her in the Academy Award-winning film

So, I wonder how toxic the fumes off of the landfill liners are when they burn. I bet there is no regulations covering that scenario.

reply to post by sad_eyed_lady


I would say that they have mistakedly overlapped the sites. They didn't keep that good records years ago and mistakes do happen when people profit from it.

Originally posted by qmantoo
THIS is what we need there. Someone to really bring it to the attention of the national press and get things moving.

Erin Brockovich to visit West Lake Landfill

BRIDGETON, Mo. (KSDK) - She's become a household name for her work on environmental issues. Now, Erin Brockovich is coming to St. Louis, and is expected to address concerns about the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton.

The superfund site is home to decades-old nuclear waste left over from the Manhattan Project. Concerned residents lobbied for Brockovich to bring more attention to the issue.

You may remember Erin Brockovich from the movie of the same name. Julia Roberts played her in the Academy Award-winning film

Thanks for posting. I sent it to Drudge, hope they run it. I live in the STL metroplex and many people here are clueless about what it happening. They know about the landfill, but not what is next door.

reply to post by rickymouse


I don't know about the landfill liner toxicity, but I posted a video here and these guys have been testing the air and found that downwind from the stench the radioactivity is higher than upwind. They strongly suspect nuclear waste is leaking into the landfill.

I haven't checked today, but so far there has only been one MSM story on this unfolding disaster.

Underground Radioactive Fire At Saint Louis Landfill: Airborne Readings

May 16, 2013
pissinontheroses.blogspot.com...

Good story with video.

Unfortunately, we can not estimate the risk for this situation. Others have claimed it is a dirty bomb just waiting for the underground fire to hit it; where as officials claim that the increased radioactivity is nothing to worry about.

Yeah, the fire, in 5 months, is 200 ft closer to the 8,700 tons of nuclear waste. Now they are 1,000 ft away from merging. I calculate we have less than 2 years at this rate.