BY JIM SALTERÂ ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRIDGETON, MO.
Nuclear waste buried in a Missouri landfill that sits near an underground smolder is more extensive than first believed, and is part of the reason the $205 million Superfund project that began nearly four years ago has been delayed, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said Friday.
The EPA announced a plan in September 2018 to remove some of the radioactive material at West Lake Landfill in the St. Louis suburb of Bridgeton, and cap the rest. The waste sits a few hundred yards from an adjacent landfill that has dealt with an underground smolder for more than a decade.
The EPA originally estimated the project would take about four years but now offers no timetable. The delay has prompted concerns from neighboring residents and local and federal political leaders.
