最新杏吧原创

Federal legislation introduced Thursday by senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill and representatives Ann Wagner and William Lacy Clay would transfer oversight of the landfill from the EPA to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which handles the cleanup of other nuclear waste sites around 最新杏吧原创.

鈥淭he EPA鈥檚 unacceptable delay in implementing a solution for the West Lake landfill has destroyed its credibility and it is time to change course,鈥� said Blunt in a statement.

The move could prove to be a hollow victory for the landfill鈥檚 neighbors who have pushed the government to make the switch. Representatives for the Army Corps have previously said the agency does not have the money to cover the upfront cost of cleanup at West Lake.

Rene Poche, a spokesman for the corps, said in an interview Thursday that 鈥渨e鈥檒l do what Congress directs us to do.鈥�

The two agencies handle the funding of toxic sites differently. The EPA generally gets money from responsible parties before the cleanup starts, and the Army Corps usually gets reimbursed after finishing the work.

Russ Knocke, spokesman for the landfills鈥� owner Republic Services, said in a statement that Republic opposed a transfer of control to the corps because it 鈥渨ould add more delays to a decision and permanent solution for West Lake. ... Going back to the drawing board on investigation and design work on a site with decades of data and study is not the answer. It would be a setback for a community that鈥檚 tired of waiting.鈥�

Area residents said they trusted the corps to move more quickly to remove the waste and prevent the spread of a fire that has smoldered underneath the adjacent Bridgeton Landfill for the last five years. The corps does consult with the EPA on some issues at the site including plans for a firebreak to prevent the spread of the underground fire.

In recent months, the EPA has pledged to have a cleanup plan proposal by the end of 2016.

The corps handles the ongoing cleanup of other radioactive waste sites around 最新杏吧原创, including Coldwater Creek in north 最新杏吧原创 County. The waste includes the byproducts of the Mallinckrodt chemical company鈥檚 uranium processing through the government鈥檚 atomic bomb program in World War II. The government stored the waste near the airport, where it contaminated the creek that runs from St. Ann to the Missouri River.

After the government sold the waste, a private contractor hauled thousands of tons to West Lake in the 1970s. The responsibility for cleanup landed under the EPA鈥檚 Superfund toxic site program in 1990 because the government was not considered the primary source of the landfill鈥檚 contamination. A 2008 plan for putting a soil cap over West Lake was rejected by the community, and the EPA has said a revised solution will announced by the end of next year.

The corps is responsible for the ongoing cleanup of the airport sites and Coldwater Creek, which has been linked to radioactive materials found in some backyards and parks in Hazelwood.

This week, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry announced it would study the high rates of cancers in North County and a potential connection to exposure to the creek. Missouri health officials had asked for federal assistance after a state report in 2014 report showed high rates of leukemia, and breast, colon and other cancers in the areas surrounding the creek.

Starting next year, the federal scientists will evaluate the health effects of living near the contaminated creek. Current and former residents have taken their own surveys and found unusual numbers and types of diseases, including 48 cases of rare appendix cancers in the area.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e listening,鈥� said Jenell Wright, who grew up in Florissant. 鈥淭hey are going to carefully review and assess the situation that we feel has occurred to our health because of being located near nuclear weapons waste for decades that we didn鈥檛 even know about. We鈥檙e hopeful they will have ideas and recommendations that can help the people who鈥檝e been affected.鈥�