WELDON SPRING, Mo. – Missouri state representatives are coming together to help protect residents from nuclear waste left over from the Manhattan Project. A new bipartisan special committee is focused on the lasting impact of nuclear weapon programs across the state.
“People would say do you really think they would put an atomic bomb plant next to our high school? Yes, they did. Now people say well everyone knows about,” Rep. Tricia Byrnes (District 63) said.
Byrnes is the chair of a new special committee consisting of nine representatives from across the state that are looking into sites like Weldon Spring.
“The goal of this committee is to look at all of the sites across Missouri because right now we’re focused on north county sites. There has been a small introduction out here at Weldon Spring. But there is a total of 11 sites,” Byrnes said.
The congresswoman said while the EPA and federal government focus on cleanup efforts at sites in north St. Louis County, the state can bring attention to other areas.
“We still have to look at these private wells and I’ve had people ask me, ‘What should I be testing for, what kind of filter can I use?’ And right now, I could not get a good answer,” Byrnes said.
Byrnes said the top priority is ground water and they are hoping to get some answers for families in the Weldon Spring area.
“I have not seen any documents on some of the streams out here since 2002,” she said. “It doesn’t mean they don’t exist; it means they’re really hard to find or the proper testing hasn’t been done. So that is one of those task forces we were talking about.”
Byrnes said another action item for the committee is working with medical leaders.
“Our top medical officer said that every primary care physician in the state should be aware of these 11 sites and if any other patients grew up or worked near them,” Byrnes said.
She said bringing awareness to people around these 11 sites is the first step to saving lives.
“Now, it is just putting money where our mouth is and writing up this legislation and we’re also very happy that it doesn’t need legislative action on all of these items. Some of these just can be done within our departments,” Byrnes said.
