Atomic Fallout
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley proposes adding radiation exposure bill to stalled tax package
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri thinks he’s found a path for stalled tax legislation that would temporarily expand the child tax credit and restore business tax breaks that are expired or have sunset under the 2017 tax law. Hawley’s idea is to attach the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to the tax bill […]
Compensation for St. Louis victims of radioactive waste left out of federal budget bill
Legislation that would compensate victims of radioactive waste and U.S. nuclear bomb tests faces an uncertain future after it was left out of a federal appropriations bill Thursday, outraging members of Missouri’s Congressional delegation. But advocates for St. Louis-area residents exposed to World War II-era radioactive waste remain “extremely hopeful” as compensation remains closer than […]
U.S. Senate approves compensation for St. Louis nuclear waste exposures
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted again in favor of legislation that would compensate those who developed cancer following exposure to World War II-era radioactive waste in St. Louis. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, extends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which is set to expire, and expands it to cover […]
Florissant homes built on Coldwater Creek may sit on radioactive contamination
Federal officials are investigating whether residents of a small subdivision in the St. Louis suburbs are living on top of contamination dating back to World War II after finding radioactive material in their backyards. The Cades Cove subdivision, a small enclave in Florissant, was built on top of where Coldwater Creek once meandered. The creek, […]
Missouri House bill would allow further testing for St. Louis radioactive waste
Local governments in the St. Louis area could request radioactive waste testing from the state under a Missouri House bill that would appropriate money to a long-unfunded program. The Missouri House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee on Monday heard testimony on a bill that would transfer $300,000 to a radioactive waste investigations fund created six […]
Coldwater Creek to finally have warning signs after decades of nuclear contamination
More than 70 years after workers first realized barrels of radioactive waste risked contaminating Coldwater Creek, the federal government has started work to put up signs warning residents. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement Monday that it was working with the Environmental Protection Agency to add signs along the creek to […]
Federal defense bill advances without compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate took an important step Tuesday toward passing the nation’s annual defense policy bill, but the legislation did not include provisions aimed at compensating victims of radioactive contamination in St. Louis and around the country. The reliably bipartisan legislation is expected to hit the same hard-right opposition in the U.S. House […]
Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense bill
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday he would do everything he could to stop a federal defense spending bill after a provision offering compensation to Americans exposed to decades-old radioactive waste was removed. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Missouri Republican called the decision to remove compensation for Americans who have suffered rare […]
Weldon Spring uranium plant contaminated Missouri lakes with radioactive waste
Steve Allen and Eric Singsaas grew up hunting and fishing in August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area and swimming in quarries along the Missouri River in St. Charles County, never knowing they were playing near nuclear waste. “Everything we did,” Allen said in an interview, “we did together.” Allen said he and Singsaas even attended […]
Cost of Coldwater Creek radioactive waste cleanup tops $400M, federal agency finds
Cleaning up Coldwater Creek and other radioactive waste sites in St. Louis County will cost more than twice what federal officials thought six years ago, a new federal report finds. A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office released Tuesday finds the government’s financial liability at the sites ballooned from $177 million in 2016 to […]
Americans sickened by radioactive waste press Congress for action on assistance
WASHINGTON — Victims of nuclear contamination rallied in the nation’s capital on Wednesday in support of bipartisan legislation that would extend compensation for those harmed by radioactive waste. U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, held a rally and press conference outside the U.S. Capitol as part […]
Was your family affected by radiation from the Manhattan Project? We want to hear your story
For thousands of families who lived and worked near top-secret nuclear testing sites or uranium processing facilities in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the road to getting an official apology from the federal government — and financial help for medical bills related to cancers and other diseases — might be coming to an end. The U.S. […]