Dive Brief:
- An official previously employed at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wrote a letter disclosing many alleged improprieties at the Bridgeton landfill in Missouri. Since 2013, waste has been smoldering beneath the surface of the landfill, and possibly inching closer to nuclear materials buried at the adjacent West Lake landfill.
- Dan Norris was formerly the director of air sampling efforts at the site from 2012 until 2014.
- Norris wrote an open letter to the public that alleges that politics is behind the state’s response to issues at the landfill.
Dive Insight:
In the letter, Norris made many troubling claims, including that scientists in the DNR are battling management that seems more worried about politics than the welfare of the community. He continues that the DNR and the owners of the landfill, Republic Services, enjoy a “cozy relationship.”
He also issued a warning, claiming that there is no solid isolation plan in place for the site. In addition, he alleges that groundwater is contaminated and soil gas migration is still a risk to structures located close to the site.
In November, the EPA issued a statement that the fire did not appear to be getting closer to the West Lake landfill, which contradicted a previous assessment made in September 2014 by Todd Thallhamer, an expert with the DNR.
Also in September, the Army Corps of Engineers released a report estimating that work on the barrier will not be started until at least February 2015, citing additional testing must be completed before the project can get underway.
