Ahead of the first Senate vote to advance Lee Zeldin as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) secured Zeldin’s commitment to visit and clean up the West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Bridgeton, Missouri.
“For years, the EPA has dragged their feet and refused to clean up the West Lake Landfill. And Missourians have been left to suffer. I was happy to hear Lee Zeldin commit to changing the failed status quo, if confirmed as EPA Administrator,” said Senator Hawley. “He’s committed to visiting the West Lake Landfill site, to finally start cleanup – and get it finished. This is a tremendous step in the right direction. And now we must pass RECA.”
BACKGROUND
The West Lake Landfill Superfund site contains radioactive contamination dating back from the Manhattan project. In the 1960s, the federal government hired a company to dispose of this waste, which originated from a processing facility in St. Louis, but the waste was placed in the landfill in 1973 without proper remediation. The EPA has jurisdiction over the site.
Senator Hawley’s proposal to expand and reauthorize the RECA program passed the Senate twice, with strong bipartisan support. Last week, Senator Hawley reintroduced his proposal to give nuclear radiation victims compensation.