Residents in North St. Louis County who live or grew up around Coldwater Creek received the latest update on testing and remediation efforts by federal authorities who are checking properties for radioactive contamination.
The creek was polluted several decades ago by radioactive waste left during the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Residents in Hazelwood and Florissant that back up to the creek are being tested.
At the James Eagan Center in Florissant, informational posters were set up around the auditorium that displayed areas in question along Coldwater Creek, with current locations undergoing testing and the areas for future soil testing.
Unlike previous meetings, there was no formal question and answer session in the June 29 presentation. Instead, community members could speak one-on-one to topic experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources at tables posted next to displays.
Bruce Munholand, manager of the St. Louis District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), provided the overview.
“All told, we took almost 12,000 samples … to determine where it was we needed to remediate, where we need to put back to it and look further to see if there is any remediation needed,” Munholand said. “About 10 percent of them have what are termed SOR- Sum of Ratios greater than one. That terminology is a measurement that we use to determine whether or not those sites warrant going back to for further analysis.”
They have been testing along the 10-year flood plain area between Duschene Park and St. Denis Bridge and the data is undergoing its initial analysis.
“Of all the area that we are looking at, a very small portion of it warrants us going back – of those, very small portions of what’s been looked at – an even smaller subset is what we’re finding in need of remediating,” he added, saying, “Because we are out there looking doesn’t mean there is anything there, necessarily.”
The next phase of sampling will come from St. Denis Bridge to north of St. Ferdinand Park. “It is a sub-phase or a subpart of the complete phase …St. Denis Bridge and Old Halls Ferry Road,” he said. “This will be the first, roughly eight-mile stretch of that.”
For more information, call 314-331-8000 or visit http://bit.ly/FUSRAPstl.
