Residents Near West Lake Landfill Demand Protection During Radioactive Waste Removal

People who live near the West Lake Landfill want to know how they will be protected from exposure to radiation when the Environmental Protection Agency begins removing nuclear contamination from the Superfund site in three years.

At a meeting late Thursday, EPA officials sought to assure residents they would be protected during the excavation. The federal agency last fall decided it would remove 70% of the site’s radioactivity.

Several residents said that they would like to be relocated while the waste is being removed.

“The only thing I’d consider safe is me knowing what my kid is breathing while they are digging that up, one mile away from his school,” said Meagan Beckerman of Bridgeton.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/residents-near-west-lake-landfill-demand-protection-during-radioactive-waste-removal