Rock Road Industries, Inc., the owner of Operable Unit 1 (OU-1) of West Lake Landfill Site in Bridgeton, Missouri, has built this website to serve as an information portal based upon official documents, including EPA's 2008 Record of Decision, and letters, maps and drawings which can be reviewed and downloaded from the Records page of this website by the public at no expense.
Our goal is to provide our neighbors and other community stakeholders with the hard facts and scientific evidence about the Site and about EPA's Selected Remedy for the Site, as well as updates on the status of the Site. Additional information on the history of the Site is available on the History page of this website.
What is West Lake Landfill?
West Lake Landfill is a former sanitary landfill that closed in the 1970s. It is located just north and west of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport near the Highway 70/270 interchange. In 1973, a now-defunct trucking company mixed 39,000 tons of soil with 8,700 tons of a low-level radioactive material called leached barium sulfate and brought it to the landfill as “clean fill” material. The landfill used the material to cover compacted trash in two areas as part of routine operations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission discovered this in 1976 and began its investigations in 1978. The Environmental Protection Agency added the landfill to its National Priorities List as a Superfund site in 1990. After 30 years of testing, analysis and public involvement, the EPA selected a final site cleanup plan in 2008. But at the request of environmental groups, the EPA put the cleanup on hold in 2009 to conduct years more testing, analysis and public involvement. The new EPA-required studies are not expected to be completed until 2015 at the earliest.
In early 2010, preparations were underway to perform the remedy when the EPA was asked to reconsider its determination. That request was granted, setting in motion additional research and analysis in the form of a supplemental feasibility study. Between January 2010 and December 2011, the PRPs worked in cooperation with EPA and with the input of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to undertake the Supplemental Feasibility Study (SFS) in order to evaluate the Selected Remedy as compared to two excavation alternatives.
EPA approved the SFS in December 2011 and released the document for public review on the EPA website. We have also made the same document available to the public on the Records page of this website.
In 2012, following early consultation with the National Remedy Review Board, EPA directed the PRPs to undertake an additional groundwater sampling event to verify that groundwater conditions are consistent with earlier findings, and to undertake additional evaluations of remedial options. The PRPs submitted the Groundwater Monitoring Reports in 2012 and 2013, and are working to draft a comprehensive groundwater report for EPA. In addition, the PRPs submitted work plans for the remaining evaluations to EPA in 2013 and 2014, and are in the process of working with EPA to complete the additional evaluations under the work plans in 2015. EPA has also asked for additional investigation to fully define the area of radiologically impacted materials and the PRPs are working with EPA on performing that work.
Rock Road Industries, Inc. continues to see the enhanced landfill cap, with long term monitoring and use restrictions, as the most appropriate remedy for the protection of human health and the environment. We are ready, willing and able to continue our cooperation with MDNR and EPA, and will work with the other PRPs to resume implementation of the remedy selected by EPA through its 2008 Record of Decision, with EPA’s suggested enhancements.
If you are seeking information about improvements and odor control at the Bridgeton Landfill, please visit the facility's website.