Dive Brief:

• The EPA released the results from testing conducted at the Bridgeton landfill in Missouri on January 8, but posted the findings to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources website on January 27, prompting an advocacy group to voice its disappointment that it only just got access to the report when it went live on the site.
• The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has been urging the EPA to be more transparent in its dealings with Bridgeton.
• The Gamma Core Penetration testing revealed that the radioactive waste is "hotter" than expected. Tests show that radioactive material has been spreading and diffusing through groundwater and other avenues. It is surmised that the contamination is widespread.

Dive Insight:

Test results show that radioactive waste was found in areas that the EPA did not expect. Ed Smith, the safe energy director at the coalition, is urging the EPA to put the Army Corps of Engineers in charge of the site, saying the EPA doesn't have enough understanding of the entire scope of the radioactivity at the landfill. On January 9, the day after the EPA report was released, the Missouri Attorney General demanded more testing be conducted at the site.

Beginning in 2010, the Bridgeton landfill has been the scene of a continuously-burning underground fire. The fire is smoldering 1,000 feet away from a buried atomic bomb, heightening concern from the community throughout the years.