Dive Brief:
- Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has asked a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge to order the owners of the Bridgeton landfill in Missouri, to collect data that would determine if the underground fire is getting closer to radioactive waste buried at the adjacent West Lake landfill.
- State environmental regulators are concerned the fire could have moved closer to the nuclear waste, prompted by measurements taken on the site.
- An expert retained by the state Department of Natural Resources said that the information collected shows a change in conditions and air intrusion, and the potential for a subsurface fire to start near the nuclear waste.
Dive Insight:
On Dec. 26, 2014, the DNR asked Republic Services, the owner of the Bridgeton site, to install two additional monitors to record temperature. It also asked that the company collect more data in a specified area.
Republic disputed the request, saying it was unnecessary. The waste company is currently under a court order to manage odors, emissions and contaminants emitting from the Bridgeton landfill. Republic also said that the deadline for the request are impossible to meet.
DNR officials plan to tour the landfill Thursday.
