HAZELWOOD, Mo. — A U.S. senator is calling on environment regulators to look closer into the spill of chemicals into Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County.
Josh Hawley cited 5 On Your Side reporting on the spill last month, which revealed new information about the timeline, chemicals and scope of the spill.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources reported that the spill started around noon on June 25.
The Environmental Protection Agency first shared the nature of the spill with 5 On Your Side on the evening of June 27.
"The community deserves clear answers from the EPA about this latest incident, and precisely what it plans to do about it," Hawley said in an emailed news release.
The EPA handed over the cleanup to the DNR Wednesday.
Coldwater Creek has a long history of contaminants, including radiation from WWII-era bombs.
Hawley championed the cleanup of Jana Elementary School along Coldwater Creek. An independent study found radioactive contaminants at the school. Hawley's Justice for Jana Elementary Act mandates testing of other nearby schools.
Read the full letter here:
The Honorable Michael S. Regan
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
Dear Administrator Regan:
Last week, your agency responded to a chemical spill near St. Louis Lambert Airport and Coldwater Creek. While the EPA originally stated that approximately 1,000 gallons of wastewater, contaminated with trivalent chromium, may have made its way into the creek area on June 27, subsequent reports have provided additional information. These new reports suggest that hundreds of gallons of industrial chemicals were released by GKN Aerospace through a Boeing wastewater treatment plant on June 25 and June 26—and to make matters worse, the more toxic hexavalent chromium was also discharged as a pollutant.
This incident will undoubtedly concern Missouri residents living in the vicinity of Coldwater Creek. Residents have expressed to my office that they were not notified of the spill and the facts surrounding it immediately. That same Coldwater Creek area has long suffered from persistent radioactive contamination, which other federal agencies have refused to properly remediate—most recently in the case of Jana Elementary School. This recent incident appears to be merely the latest episode in the ongoing issue of contamination in this area. The community deserves clear answers from the EPA about this latest incident, and precisely what it plans to do about it.
At your office’s earliest convenience, please contact my staff to schedule a briefing regarding this matter. Please come prepared to address the following questions:
- How much time elapsed between EPA’s learning of this incident and EPA’s notification to the public of any associated risks from this contamination?
- What, if any, remedial measures have GKN Aerospace and/or Boeing committed to the EPA that they will take in response to this incident?
- What, if any, health risks does this spill pose for the population of St. Louis, including those near Coldwater Creek? Will you commit to informing the public of any risks in a timely manner?
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
United States Senator
Read more about Coldwater Creek.
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