David Hubbard, 68, remembers the carefree days of the 1960s, when he and his friends played sports and other outdoor games near their school playground in the Robertson Township area, a historic, predominantly Black community in St. Louis County.
The children paid little attention to trucks with large containers attached that frequently drove through the neighborhood, dumping unknown substances at what was then called the Kent Landfill, which Hubbard said sat just a couple hundred feet from his grade school. Nothing sinister registered in their minds, even when small fires spontaneously combusted on grass or dirt where the trucks unloaded their waste.
Now, some 50 years later, Hubbard has learned those trucks were dumping radioactive waste in the neighborhood where he lived until his early 20s.
Federal officials say cleanup of radioactive contamination tied to the nation’s early nuclear weapons program is finally accelerating in the St. Louis region, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers committing an additional $40 million to remediation efforts. Advocates say the new funding, combined with expanded eligibility for federal compensation, could bring long-overdue relief — if residents are informed and able to access it.
For decades, Robertson residents relied on well water and nearby streams.
“By the 1950s, those water sources were black as a lagoon,” wrote former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal in a 2016 commentary for The St. Louis American. Chappelle-Nadal continues to attend meetings with Hubbard, Robertson residents and others who lived near toxic landfills across Missouri.
Investigations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have confirmed that the federal government and private companies involved in nuclear bomb production and atomic waste storage in the St. Louis area were aware of contamination risks. Records show officials ignored reports of improper storage, landfill spills and health hazards for decades.
Earlier this month, the Army Corps announced it would direct the additional $40 million toward cleanup along Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis County and at a site near downtown St. Louis. The St. Louis district is one of six nationwide receiving a share of $155 million in new funding aimed at addressing contamination from “the nation’s early atomic energy program,” the agency said.
The contamination traces back to the dawn of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. After World War II, uranium processed in St. Louis was transported to surrounding counties and dumped near Coldwater Creek and the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, near Robertson Township, where radioactive waste remains.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, signed into law in 1990, was created to compensate people who became ill — or families of those who died — from radiation exposure related to World War II-era weapons testing and manufacturing. Despite St. Louis’ central role in uranium processing, area residents were initially excluded from the program.
After years of advocacy by residents and organizations, and lobbying from political leaders including Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, RECA was expanded to include certain Missouri ZIP codes impacted by radioactive waste.
Government records show $8.57 million in approved RECA claims tied to Missouri contamination, but fewer than 1% of eligible residents have applied.
To help close that gap, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen hosted a Zoom information session Dec. 1 for residents of St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles County who lived, worked or attended school in impacted ZIP codes for at least two years after Jan. 1, 1949, and later developed certain cancers.
Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, said many residents remain unaware of their eligibility or feel overwhelmed by the application process. Just Moms STL was instrumental in pushing for RECA’s expansion in Missouri.
During the meeting, Chapman listed cancers associated with radiation exposure, including multiple myeloma and cancers of the thyroid, breast, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, bile ducts, gall bladder, brain, colon, ovary, bone, liver and lungs.
More than $12 million has been paid to Missourians who completed RECA applications, Chapman said. Most of the 21 eligible Missouri ZIP codes are in St. Louis County and St. Charles County, but she emphasized that city residents were also exposed.
During school desegregation, she noted, St. Louis children were bused to schools in contaminated county areas. She also pointed to two city ZIP codes still excluded.
“For our Pruitt Igo (Housing Complex) friends, 63102 and 63106 are directly to the left of Mallinckrodt Chemical Works,” Chapman said. “Those are the two ZIP codes we’re working to get included into RECA.”
For Hubbard, the new funding and compensation programs offer limited comfort. He has not been diagnosed with a radiation-related illness, but his wife, Patricia, died from lung cancer last year.
“She never smoked a day in her life,” Hubbard said. He added that Patricia was also raised “right behind” the Kent Landfill in Robertson Township.
Just Moms STL maintains online resources explaining RECA eligibility, impacted ZIP codes and how to get help completing compensation forms. RECA funds are also available to surviving spouses and children.
Hubbard said he has begun the application process. While he appreciates the assistance now available, the sense of betrayal remains.
“Unfortunately, they targeted Black neighborhoods with that stuff,” Hubbard said.
“You would think if these people knew what they were doing; they would have done it in a safer, better way.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.