EPA updates residents on landfill cleanup

Regional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives met with residents in the Bridgeton. Missouri, area recently to give an update on the West Lake landfill cleanup project, a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says. The meeting was the first publicly held meeting about the project in more than a year.

Originally, EPA said a decision on a cleanup plan for the site, which was deemed a Superfund site after finding radiological contamination in the area, was to be identified by the end of 2016. Now the agency, Bridgeton officials and other state and federal officials are saying a decision is at least several months away, according to the report.

EPA official say they reviewed two documents prepared by potentially responsible parties, including Phoenix-based landfill operator Republic Services; the U.S. Department of Energy; energy corporation Exelon, Chicago; and former Exelon subsidiary and uranium mining company Cotter Corp., Denver, liable for the site’s cleanup throughout the year, the report says.

The first document, a revised remedial investigation, was submitted to officials in June. According to the report, the document contains an outline of the site’s contamination and additional improvements were requested by EPA and other state and federal officials.

The second document is a final feasibility study that evaluates remedial alternatives, the report says. The latest draft was submitted in late August and is currently being reviewed. Remediation options in the document include partial excavation of the site to remove contaminants, full excavation or capping the site.

EPA says they should complete reviewing and commenting on the feasibility study by October, the report says.