To get a better picture of the Bridgeton Landfill smoldering underground fire, Attorney General Chris Koster has demanded access to carbon monoxide data for the entire landfill.
In December 2010, an underground fire was detected in the “north quarry” of the inactive 52-acre Bridgeton Landfill. Last fall, residents and environmental activists started complaining about an awful odor and raised questions about health concerns. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted air tests and found that the fire was letting off harmful gases. The air testing showed increased levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, and hydrogen sulfide, a neurotoxin.
On Thursday, Koster asked the Circuit Court of St. Louis County to order Republic Services, the managing company for the Bridgeton Landfill, to provide additional monitoring data. According to Koster, the state of Missouri has asked Republic Services to supply data and maps showing the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) at various points distributed across the landfill.
Analysts can use the carbon-monoxide data to better understand the location and movement of the smoldering event at the site, Koster said. While Republic had previously provided CO readings and maps for the south-quarry portion of the landfill, it has not supplied comprehensive data pertaining to the north quarry – which is adjacent to the West Lake Landfill where radioactive material has been located.
“Regulators pushing for installation of protective measures and local firefighters developing contingency plans can better protect the public if they understand the fire’s location,” said Koster.
Many in the region are fearful that the Bridgeton fire will move towards radioactive waste buried in West Lake Landfill and endanger the entire St. Louis area.
Republic Services has said it will construct an “isolation barrier” to separate radiation-contaminated material at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site only 1,000 feet away from the fire, according to the EPA.
Dumped illegally in 1973, the radioactive waste from Mallinckrodt Chemical Works’ production of uranium for atomic bombs during the 1940s is buried in the West Lake landfill, west of Interstate 270 on St. Charles Rock Road.
Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) has been long advocated for the federal government to remove the radioactive waste, which is located in the river floodplain. Coalition leader Ed Smith said the removal of the radioactive wastes “is the only guaranteed plan to ensure the current, or future subsurface landfill fire, will not hit the concentrated volumes of the originally deposited radioactive material at the Bridgeton/West Lake Landfill.”
In May, Koster announced that his office had negotiated a legal order with Republic Services, “requiring the company to take a series of steps to contain and control odorous gases at the Bridgeton Landfill, address the underground smoldering, and provide temporary relocation assistance to local residents affected by the odors,” according to the EPA.
The state’s legal order also requires Republic Services to compensate the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for its costs related to environmental sampling and monitoring.
Next week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said contractors will start “core sampling” at the West Lake Landfill. This process involves drilling into the ground to collect soil samples. The samples will be screened for radiation to figure out where it would be safe to build the isolation wall.