Nuclear Waste Taints St. Louis Suburb

[bananas]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Radioactive thorium found at residential properties is linked to nuclear-weapons work done decades ago

Radioactive contamination has been discovered at three residential properties in the St. Louis area, adding fuel to a long-running controversy over how much damage was done to the environment and possibly people’s health by nuclear-weapons work performed there decades ago.

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Current and former residents of nearby areas have argued that contamination from the creek had spread into their neighborhoods during periods of flooding and have pushed for extensive sampling of houses and yards. They also contend residents have suffered from an unusually large number of cancer cases and other maladies possibly linked to radioactive contamination.

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Earlier this year, the Corps said it found low levels of contamination in the ground at three other locations near the creek, including two parks. The Corps is cleaning up one of those parks, St. Cin in Hazelwood, Mo., and will address the other locations as well, he said.

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Last September, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services wrote a letter to federal authorities saying it had found a significantly higher incidence of leukemia in areas around Coldwater Creek though it hadn’t determined whether there was a link to weapons-program contaminants. It asked them to join in a health study.

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Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-waste-taints-st-louis-suburb-1440361689

[forest444]

1. Probably related to this other monstrosity:

http://archive.ksdk.com/news/article/345733/9/Army-No-health-risk-from-secret-testing-in-St-Louis

You might also remember that the Pruitt-Igoe calamity - which coincided with the Army spraying campaign at the site - has been frequently held up by tea bags as "proof" that all public housing efforts are pointless or worse.

Pruitt-Igoe had its many problems, no doubt (not least of which was its very design); but if you took Shaker Heights in Cleveland or the Hunt Club in Orange County, red-lined them, made a concerted effort to push heroin and crack on its (already largely wayward) youth, and then sprayed radioactive aerosols for over a decade, you'd probably have to condemn and ultimately demolish them too.

[Gore1FL]

3. A friend of mine (since forever) has stage 4 cancer that he attributes to Coldwater Creek.

He is a day older than me. I hope we both hit 50 in January.

[Javaman]

4. saving to read later. :) thanks for the post. nt