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Coldwater Creek The catastrophe of Contamination

History of Coldwater Creek

During the beginning of the United States’ journey to create nuclear weapons, also known as the Manhattan Project, the company Mallinckrodt Chemical Works was the original processor of Uranium ore gathered by the Belgian-occupied Congo. Their main processing facility was located in St. Louis, which played a major role in warfare production.

"The St. Louis region played an enormous role supplying U.S. forces with firepower during World War II. In St. Charles County, 17,000 acres of farmland were snapped up by eminent domain to make TNT for torpedoes and other bombs. A plant in the 4800 block of Goodfellow Boulevard in St. Louis produced ammunition and artillery projectiles."

Jesse Bogan, writer for St. Louis Post Dispatch said.

Mallinckrodt processed the uranium at the St. Louis Downtown Site (SLDS) from 1942-1957, and radioactive byproducts were stored at a site in close proximity to the St. Louis Airport Site until 1967. The site is now called SLAPS, and is located at the head of Coldwater Creek, and drains into the Missouri River, after traveling through North St. Louis County. In 1966, the waste stored at SLAPS was transferred to Latty Avenue, where part of the property became known as the Hazelwood Interim Storage Site (HISS). In order to dry the materials prior to shipping, the storage site was open-air, and careless handling and transportation of the radioactive material during the time caused it to spread to surrounding areas on the transportation routes, known as Vicinity Properties (VP).

"Inside the I-270 loop, which isn’t residential, there are 39 areas and properties that will require remediation, most of which are still being defined.”

Uranium-238 had gotten into the creek, allowing radiation to contaminate North County. The area has significant underground water tables and aquifers, and because of that, the land was used for farming. In the 1950s and 1960s, the area had a population boom, leading to soil regrading and the disturbance of groundwater. The activity would have spread radioactive materials and contaminated groundwater to soil and open air, creating an additional mode of transportation through dust inhalation. Residents relying on locally grown vegetation and dairy products could have been exposed through food sources.

In 1973, radioactive material was dumped into the West Lake Landfill, illegally. The result was 46 acres of contaminated soil, and even 49 years later, the landfill has not turned over the nuclear weapons remediation to the Army Corps of Engineers. The illegal waste dumped into the landfill is in the middle of an open field, with just a chain link fence separating it from the public. The fence does very little to protect the public though, as the area is in a flood plain and often hit by tornadoes. The most dangerous part of the location comes from its neighbor: an adjacent landfill has a rapidly growing underground fire that promises the spark of a large explosion.

Money and Politics

With any form of change in environmental standards, money and politics must play a role. Without money, there would’ve been no funding to clean up the deadly radioactive material in the creek. The funding to clean up ColdWater Creek came from the federal government’s Superfund program,a program that identifies and provides funds for environmental hazards. After many investigations conducted, ColdWater Creek was put on the National Priorities List, a list that identified areas with dangerous levels of environmental waste that needed to be cleaned immediately. In total, the cost of cleaning Cold Water Creek was $34.55 million according to the National Priorities List Records and efforts are still being done to this day to clean up the waste.

During the Cold Water Creek era of cleanups, there was an extreme lack of regulation, especially surrounding both the land and the loose soil filled with trace amounts of radioactive material. Originally, Continental Mining and Milling Company purchased a significant portion of the still radioactive dirt, but it was then handed over to a containment area at an industrial area in the 9200 block of Latty Avenue, which also borders Coldwater Creek reported by St. Louis Post. Some dirt stayed on Latty Avenue, some was buried in the West Lake Landfill, but a significant amount of the dirt has been lost in transfer. Many houses within a mile radius of the creek that had sod or surface dirt put in had no regulation standards, meaning companies could buy the cheap Cold Water dirt and use them for their dirt installments. Since there were no regulations on where this dirt was placed, the entire region of Northern St. Louis could contain potentially radioactive dirt in the homes of normal, everyday citizens. Along with housing, there are no provisions in place for disclosures on land, meaning real estate companies don’t have to disclose that the houses near Cold Water Creek are still technically a superfund site. Junior Alex Cosmono displays her disgust for the complete lack of regulation during the cleanup.

“How can they just lose track of radioactivity and the government be fine with it?” Cosmono said. “What’s horrible is that people don’t even know when they move in that they are living in a place of past radiation.”

Repercussions of Radiation

North St Louis County (St Ann) had a large population boom in 1953 shortly after Coldwater Creek contamination from the Manhattan Project. Citizens were not informed of the radiation that was near their homes. People were clueless and some of them passed before they found out about the radiation contaminating them and their families. While the government knew about the radioactive residue, they chose to sit back and do nothing. The residents of the area were in a constant state of exposure to uranium and other radioactive substances and the government refused to buy them out of their homes. Nancy Abraham, a previous resident of St. Ann, spoke of the injustice her and her family endured.

“I lived in St Ann from 1951-2007 and my family was never informed of the contamination near us. I would play in that creek every day during the summer, I would even catch crawdads in it,” Abraham stated.

Abrahan then described her extensive list of family members (with no previous family history) who developed forms of cancer after living near Coldwater Creek.

“My dad [Louis Edward Smith] moved to Jane Ave. right after WWII. He later developed colon cancer twice as well as prostate cancer,” Abraham said “My mother and his wife [Florence Minnie Emma Smith] developed colon cancer later in her life.”

Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived long full lives but the cancer put that at risk. Unfortunately Mrs. Abrahams’ husband met a more tragic, painful end.

“My husband [John Dennis Abraham] passed away in 2012 from colon cancer as well as a rare form of cancer doctors had never seen before. He grew up playing in Coldwater Creek as well and I am certain that the cancer was directly caused by his time near the Creek” Abraham stated.

This is a prime example of the death and pain the contaminated area is causing. Death and pain isn't the only thing this Creek is causing, St Ann has a poverty rate of 16.20% according to the official world populations review, meaning some of the people affected by the radiation can't afford to move. These people live in fear for their children and themselves, worrying who is going to fall ill next?

Tribute to Nancy

What Can We Do?

Often everyday citizens feel that they can’t make a difference in the financial aid and vast confusing world of politics to drive change, but much can still be done to instigate change. Due to the recent move of the completion of the cleanup to 2038, public outcry has increased. By joining facebook groups like Just Moms STL or Cold Water Creek United, citizens can get the vital information they need to stay safe and prepared for the future of their homes. Citizens can also contact their state or district officials to comment on the disapproval of the pushed back cleanup date. When we think that we’re alone and can’t make a change, we’ve already lost the fight. Citizens living in Cold Water Creek are the living proof that this is not the case and that one person can make a vast difference. One voice can be the driving force behind an entire movement. Known environmental activist and junior Allie Raines gives advice on how younger people, especially students, can speak their opinions and make a change.

“Along with posting on social media to educate, voting with your dollars is the best way to create change,” Raines says. “In a society where everyone is money driven, showing companies what you support through your purchases shows them what policies to support.”