最新杏吧原创

The EPA conducted above-ground and soil testing in May after residents and politicians raised concerns about the park鈥檚 proximity to the radioactive West Lake Landfill and the adjacent Bridgeton Landfill, which has been burning underground for more than three years.

In the 1970s, World War II-era nuclear waste was illegally dumped at West Lake near St. Charles Rock Road and Interstate 270 that was eventually deemed a toxic Superfund site.

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working on a plan for a barrier between the two landfills to keep the fire from reaching the radioactive material, as well as a long-term solution for storing or removing the waste.

Results of independent tests ordered by the Pattonville School District released Wednesday did not indicate any levels of concern at Pattonville High and Rose Acres Elementary schools, which are within two miles of the landfills.

Earlier this year, a group of residents collected soil from the Bridgeton athletic complex, and an independent lab analysis found elevated levels of potentially toxic material in a sample taken near a drainage ditch. The and previously said above-ground monitors did not pick up high levels of radioactivity at the ball fields.

鈥淟ocal residents and visitors can be assured that a thorough scientific survey and review process has confirmed that the public can continue to gather and play at (Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex), and that no additional environmental action is warranted for this facility,鈥� EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said in a statement.

Residents near the landfill said they were concerned that soil samples from the Bridgeton complex were compared to Koch Park in Florissant, near Coldwater Creek which was contaminated with the same nuclear waste that had been stored near the airport.

The EPA report said soil samples from Bridgeton and Koch as well as Blanchette Park in St. Charles tested at similar levels of radiation.

Ed Smith of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment said he remains concerned about the levels of lead the EPA found at the ball fields and wants further analysis.