The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ordered a long-awaited cleanup of a Superfund聽site northwest of St. Louis, saying residents living near the landfill contaminated with World War II-era nuclear waste deserve action after waiting 27 years for federal regulators聽to issue a decision.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt鈥檚 decision to partially excavate tons of radioactive material from the West Lake Landfill over five years 鈥� at an expected cost of $236 million to the liable companies 鈥� goes beyond a 2008 solution proposed by the George W. Bush administration to cover聽and monitor the waste.
鈥淭he people of the St. Louis region deserve clarity and answers,鈥� Pruitt said in a statement Thursday. 鈥淚 promised them an answer, and today I am making good on that commitment.鈥� He added that he sought a remedy聽at the site that would 鈥減rotect public health, comply with the law, and hold potentially responsible parties accountable.鈥�
Thursday鈥檚 announcement also was intended to be Exhibit A in demonstrating Pruitt鈥檚 commitment to revitalizing the agency鈥檚 Superfund program, which includes the nation鈥檚 most polluted sites, by streamlining and accelerating cleanups. But it underscored how few Superfund sites have simple聽answers, though nearly all of them generate聽intense emotions.
鈥淲e were hoping for full, 100 percent excavation. But we know that would be聽difficult to accomplish,鈥� said Dawn Chapman, a founder of Just Moms STL, an activist group that has long pushed for an extensive excavation with relocation of families near the landfill.
Chapman聽said her group views the聽outcome as a hard-fought victory but one that is far from guaranteed, given the public-comment and cleanup process likely to unfold over years. 鈥淲e have to stay here and watch it and see it through,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 look ahead, and I see these other big battles coming.聽We鈥檙e not going to blink because you can鈥檛. 鈥β燱e will continue to fight to get even聽more [radioactive waste] removed.鈥�
Pruitt鈥檚 decision goes further than the action sought by Republic Services and Exelon, whose聽subsidiaries are responsible for the cleanup at West Lake along with the federal Department of Energy.聽The companies have argued聽that the agency鈥檚 own science shows capping the waste is the safer option and that excavating the toxic material could create serious public health risks.
While the $236 million price tag of the EPA plan is significantly higher than what the firms hoped to spend, it is well below the cost, projected at nearly $700 million, of a full excavation.
In a statement, Republic Services said it was 鈥減leased that the EPA has finally ended decades of study and again is issuing a proposed plan for the site.鈥� But the company cautioned that a final decision could take years.
What remains to be seen is whether the decision on West Lake represents how Pruitt is likely to approach other Superfund sites.
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