MEETING: Bridgeton Landfill Public Health Consultation

State and federal health departments have determined this community, including workers, could have been harmed by the emissions from the underground fire at the landfill. 

From the meeting 

A resident of the community Mike Mason asks: how could they forget to under report 600 times previously. 

West Lake Landfill Public Group | Facebook

West Lake Landfill has 21,177 members. This group has been formed by concerned residents to inform and keep the public updated about the radioactive waste in the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo Please like us at Just Moms STL on facebook Website: www.stlradwastelegacy.com

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is holding a public meeting to present their findings and hear from this community concerning their health consultation. Our comments and engagement will help shape their final conclusions as well as determine how to protect us in the future.

PLEASE help us protect our community by attending and participating in this very important meeting.

January 7th, starting at 5 p.m.
DHSS public meeting will begin with an availability session that has a come-and-go format from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. A presentation will follow starting at 6:30 p.m., which will last approximately 30 minutes, and the meeting will conclude with time for community comments until close at 8:30 p.m.
Location: Bridgeton Banquet Center, 12259 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044
DHSS Consultation Report Key Findings:
● In the past, breathing sulfur-based compounds at concentrations detected in the air near the landfill may have harmed the health of people living or working near the landfill by aggravating existing chronic diseases such as asthma or chronic cardiopulmonary disease, or caused respiratory effects such as chest tightness or difficulty breathing, especially in sensitive individuals living or working near the landfill. Breathing the odors of sulfur-based compounds may have also caused headache, nausea or fatigue.
● In the past, long-term or repeated exposure to sulfur-based compounds and their odors in the air near the landfill may have increased stress, impaired mood or increased the risk of respiratory infection for those living or working near the landfill.
WE MUST HAVE 24/7, REAL-TIME AIR MONITORING NOW
In case you missed it or would like a refresher you can read our full newsletter on the Health Consultation here
Volunteers Needed
Since this is such an important meeting, we are seeking volunteers to hand out flyers in your neighborhoods and community. It would also be great if we can get people out this weekend near Walmart or the Machinist Hall intersections on St Charles Rock Road. 

If you are available to help, please respond to this newsletter or email us at westlakemoms@gmail.com for instructions on where to pick up the flyers. If you prefer to print them yourself, you can find the flyer here. 

Thank you in advance! 
DHSS PUBLIC COMMENT SIGN-ON LETTER
Re: Evaluation of Exposure to Landfill Gases in Ambient Air, Bridgeton Sanitary Landfill, Bridgeton, St. Louis County, Missouri
Prepared by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
I support and request the following suggestions made by Stephen Lester, Science Director at
Center for Health, Environment & Justice be considered and implemented to improve upon the Health Consultation for the
Bridgeton Landfill in Bridgeton, Saint Louis County, Missouri.

1) ATSDR should address whether the ambient air samples that were used to evaluate
the public health risks considered in this report were adequate and sufficient to
properly evaluate the public health risks posed by the Bridgeton Landfill.

2) ATSDR should conduct an analysis and include a robust discussion of how only using
existing available data impacts its evaluation of the public health risks posed by the
Bridgeton Landfill.

3) The agency should expand its cancer risk calculations to include a full range of the
benzene concentrations found in the ambient air including the highest concentrations
found in ambient air.

4) ATSDR should address the cancer risk data for benzene and include a discussion of the
significance of this cancer risk which exceeds the generally used acceptable cancer risk
target value of one-in-a-million.

5) ATSDR should include a discussion of the potential health impacts on nearby residents
of the emissions from the subsurface smoldering event (SSE) also known as the
underground fire including what data would be needed to assess these risks.

6) ATSDR should include an analysis of the cumulative risks in its evaluation of the public
health risks posed by the Bridgeton Landfill.

7) In cooperation with MDHSS, MDNR and the USEPA, ATSDR should define what air
monitoring locations are considered upwind and which are downwind and identify
which data discussed in Health Consultation Report were collected at each of the
upwind and downwind sites.

8) ATSDR should conduct an analysis and include a robust discussion of the limitations of
screening guidelines and how best to use these values to evaluate the public health
risks posed by the air monitoring data evaluated in this report.

9) ATSDR should recognize and discuss the scientific limitations in our understanding of
the toxicity of chemicals in the Health Consultation Report. As a scientific community,
we know very little about what specific level of exposure to a single chemical, let
alone to multiple chemicals with continuous (or intermittent) exposures over
undetermined or unknown periods of time, will result in an adverse health outcome in
a person. Consequently, public health officials at best can provide their opinion on
what will health effects if any may result from exposure to a chemical in air.

10) ATSDR should direct the MDNR to conduct additional testing to determine the extent
of vapor intrusion may be occurring from the Bridgeton Landfill. Testing for vapor
intrusion in nearby homes and along pathways in between the landfill and nearby
homes should be done by the MDNR not the landfill operator who has a clear bias in
not finding anything.

11) In the future ATSDR should always define its objectives for a health consultation in
consultation with community leaders.


12) ATSDR should rewrite its third conclusion to make clear what it is trying to say. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVwZnW7oMQx89NYtWrfAtOU-lDd7_HOrHS2T-z9qxFIzSOaA/viewform