St. Louis American: Legislators call attention to North County radioactive dump

READ STORY http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2010/02/18/news/local_news/localnews01.txt

A river floodplain is probably the worst place to store radioactive waste, said Robert Criss, a geology professor at Washington University.

But in fact, thats where such waste has ended up after Mallinckrodt Chemical Works started producing uranium for atomic bombs in 1942 right next to the Missouri River floodplain.

The waste landed only eight miles upstream from Missouri American Water Companys intake for drinking water in Florissant that supplies all of North County. Thats also upstream from the Chain of Rocks water intake, a main supplier for St. Louis citys water.

Dumped illegally in 1973, the waste is now buried in the West Lake landfill, west of Interstate 270 on St. Charles Rock Road. As the radioactive waste gets older, it becomes more dangerous, said representatives of Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• St. Louis American
• Rebecca Rivas
• newspaper
• Gregory Carter
• Kacie Starr Triplett
• Kay Drey
• Robert Criss
• Washington University
• westlake landfill

[rebelgunnut]

@GroverGee ya but if you feel that way then you can never go to denver colorodo there drinking water is from the colorodo river which cuts through granit and for every ton of granit there is a cubic inch of uranium plus since your higher up you get higher radiation exposers (ps more piolits get more radiation then a nuke worker) but i will say i have seen and heard about st louis pluming problems they realy need to be fixed

[GroverGee]

@rebelgunnut I hear you - The problem with radioactive material dumped here is it is in the middle of a city, not in the middle of the basin and range of Nevada.

[rebelgunnut]

@GroverGee lol ya nope im just nuclear engineer and if it 235 u can make a bomb out of it easy (not that i would) and at to days price it going for over $1000 a gram( if u have a liesince to have it) radio isotopes are some ot the most expensive things on earth!!!

[GroverGee]

@rebelgunnut sounds like maybe you are drinking too much water.

[rebelgunnut]

whats the radioactive waste source? there a diferent type of waste. it could be normaly urianium 238 which is in every water stream in the west. if its 235 call me i dig it up and take it off your hands cuase thats more valuble than gold!!!

[dlobbig]

Very tight video on about a danger that needs to be told widely and loud. Thanks to St. Louis American and reporter Rebecca Rivas!