Missouri Radioactive Waste Still a Danger to Health

Mo. Dept of Health and Senior Services Director – Dr. Heidi Miller warned legislators in the Missouri House Special Interim Committee to Address Health and Environmental Impact of Nuclear Weapons Work that the dangers of World War Two era radioactive waste is still a problem for those exposed in the St. Louis area.

The committee is supposed to study the long tern effects of the deadly waste on individuals exposed in communities that were known to be near the radioactive material and then consider and propose legislation when the General Assembly gathers in January 2025.

St. Louis was integral in US atomic bomb development during World War Two as the uranium was refined in the Gateway City and post war the waste was sent to St. Charles and St Louis counties. The waste was dumped in barrels and buried along Coldwater Creek. Those barrels leaked the toxic material into the ground. Five years ago a federal study showed that kids who played in the creek, or even just lived nearby back in the 1970’s and 80’s had an elevated risk of developing cancer.

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Individuals are still living with the aftermath of exposure in the form of rare cancers.