最新杏吧原创

After declining to ask for the money over the past five years, the governor signed off on a $221,000 plan designed to boost surveillance of radioactive sites left over from the 最新杏吧原创 region鈥檚 role in creating the nuclear bomb.

鈥淲e would seek to make those funds available for communities or local units of government or school districts to support any testing they would seek to do,鈥� Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Dru Buntin said Tuesday.

Under the plan, which is undergoing review by House and Senate budget writers, state environmental regulators could field requests from local officials who want more information about potential nuclear waste in their communities. Budget materials show there would be enough money in next year鈥檚 budget to conduct three studies.

鈥淒ue to the increased interest in the radiological remediation projects currently underway and numerous issues that have drawn the public interest, it is anticipated that the department will receive numerous requests for investigations,鈥� the request said.

In an interview Tuesday, Buntin told the Post-Dispatch that the number of studies will depend on how extensive each site was contaminated.

鈥淚t obviously is going to depend on the extent of what is the nature of the testing needed,鈥� Buntin said.

Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, said she will spread the word about the program in her north 最新杏吧原创 County district, which comprises a number of sites where waste was dumped.

But, she was disappointed it took five years to get funding for the program.

鈥淎t any point the department could have come before us and requested it,鈥� Proudie said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say 鈥楤etter late than never.鈥� I鈥檓 going to be on the department like white on rice.鈥�

Proudie said there are at least 10 suburban cities that could request the funding, meaning the money might run out quickly.

Rep. Darin Chappell, R-Rogersville, said Missouri taxpayers should not have to spend state tax dollars to clean up material that is primarily the responsibility of the federal government.

鈥淚 find it absolutely outrageous,鈥� Chappell said.

If approved, the money would be placed in the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Last year, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources told the Post-Dispatch the agency did not request funding in previous years because the state鈥檚 hazardous waste fund 鈥渉ad been experiencing severe fund solvency issues.鈥�

But, pressure on state and federal officials has been ramping up in recent years as more people living near the radioactive waste dump sites are expressing concern about the health effects and the lack of action.

Missouri politicians, including U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of 最新杏吧原创, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and a host of state lawmakers from the areas affected by the cancer-causing material, have been holding meetings and press conferences to put the problem in the spotlight.

At issue is radioactive waste from the processing of uranium ore by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in 最新杏吧原创 in helping develop the atomic bomb, beginning in the 1940s.

The waste contaminated areas in north 最新杏吧原创 County along the Coldwater Creek watershed, and some waste was buried at West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton.

While much of the focus in recent years had been on those areas, state Rep. Tricia Byrnes, R-Wentzville, and others have been pushing to compensate people in the Weldon Spring area who developed cancers associated with Mallinckrodt鈥檚 uranium processing there from 1957 to 1966.

Surface remediation there concluded with completion of a 41-acre, on-site disposal cell in 2001, visible from Highway 94 just west of Francis Howell High School.

The radioactive waste investigation fund was created in 2018 as part of legislation sponsored by former Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City.

In its request, DNR said securing the money will ensure the state can respond to requests by local governments to perform or oversee radioactive waste investigations.

鈥淭hese investigations would alleviate public concerns and provide protection of human health and the environment,鈥� the request notes. 鈥淒ue to the increased interest in the radiological remediation projects currently underway and numerous issues that have drawn the public interest, it is anticipated that the department will receive numerous requests for investigations.鈥�