Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis County is one of the most contaminated areas in the country stemming from the federal Manhattan Project nuclear waste.
The area is now being cleaned up through the St. Louis Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
Community activists are encouraging people who want to find out more or voice their concerns to attend the February 22 biannual meeting with representatives from the Army Corps.
“Our top priority will always be the remediation of residential and recreational properties to ensure the health and safety of the residents of North St. Louis County and the environment,” FUSRAP program manager Bruce Munholand said. “We will continue to execute a methodical plan for cleaning up the Coldwater Creek corridor and adjacent properties from McDonnell Boulevard to the Missouri River.”
The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hazelwood Civic Center East, 8969 Dunn Rd. in Hazelwood. The Corps of Engineers will give an update on cleanup efforts.
“Anyone who lives in the North County this is a really important meeting to attend,” said Kim Visintine, who grew up in North County and helped start the Coldwater Creek – Just the Facts group. The volunteer community leadership group has been engaging government agencies about health issues and clean-up concerns along the creek for many years.
The documentary “Atomic Homefront,” which premiered on HBO earlier this month, raised some  concerns for people who grew up in North St. Louis County and are just finding out about the radioactive nuclear weapons waste legacy of the region.
The meeting will only address the radioactive cleanup for FUSRAP areas in the St. Louis region, including the St. Louis Downtown site and the North St. Louis County Sites, as well as  Coldwater Creek, Duchesne Park, and residential properties.  FUSRAP will not be able to answer questions about the West Lake Landfill as that site is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Visintine said this is also a good opportunity to take part in the tail end of a federal health assessment.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is conducting a Public Health Assessment (PHA) for Coldwater Creek, pertaining to the radioactive contamination found in parks and residences along Coldwater Creek.
The assessment will help to determine if people have been exposed in the past, are exposed currently, or may be exposed in the future to hazardous substances in Coldwater Creek. The agency will evaluate the possible health impacts of exposures and make recommendations on actions needed to prevent or reduce exposures and protect public health.
Representatives from the agency will be at the meeting.
The assessment is the avenue to pursue federal legislation to be included in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), Visintine said. RECA establishes lump sum compensation awards for individuals who contracted specified diseases within the act’s defined areas.
“If they want to be included, the PHA is huge,” she said. If individuals want to participate and aren’t able to attend the meeting, they can email coldwatercreek@cdc.gov.
