/^DS7%\ y§zj West Lake Update September 4,2014 Airport Hosts Missouri Attorney Gen- eral, Army Corps Of Engineers, Fed- eral Aviation Administration, and EPA On August 6, Lambert-St. Louis International Air- port management and the City of St. Louis invited representatives of EPA, FAA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to meet with Attorney General Chris Koster to discuss the proposed isolation barrier at the West Lake Landfill Site. The meeting focused on potential impacts to public health and safety from work at the site. It allowed the USACE and EPA to up- date key stakeholders on the isolation barrier design. One of the main topics of conversation at the meet- ing was the potential for open excavation at the landfill to attract large numbers of birds, which can pose a threat to aircraft flying in and out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Airport officials believe that due to the length of the isolation barriers excavation phase and the amount of waste to be excavated, there is a significant potential for a bird hazard to develop from activities associated with its construction. The landfill stopped accepting waste in 2005 largely due to the risk of bird strikes that the open landfill posed to flight operations. While plans for the isolation barrier are still in de- velopment, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will play an important role in reviewing those plans to ensure the safety of the flying public and the surround- ing community. EPA, with technical support from the USACE, will require the Potentially Responsible Parties to sup- ply analytic information of sufficient detail to enable the airport, FAA, City of St. Louis, Missouri Attorney General, and EPA to better understand the bird strike hazards associated with options for the construction of the isolation barrier and any feasible mitigation approaches: www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/west._lake_ landfill/pdf/west-lake-isolation-barrier-assessment. pdf As with all of EPA's actions at the West Lake Site, the safety of the public—both in the air and on the ground—is our highest priority. EPA Radiation Guidance: Community Tools for Radioactively Contaminated Superfund Sites EPA has prepared a collection of 22 fact sheets to help the public better understand the risk assessment process the Agency uses at radioactively contami- nated Superfund sites. These tools also provide brief overviews of EPA's risk assessment calculators, and information about radionuclides commonly found at Superfund sites. EPA has a related video that describes the risk assessment process for radioactive contamina- tion: what it is, how it works, and how the public can be involved. The fact sheets and video are available online: www.epa.gov/superfund/health/contaminants/radia- tion/radcomm.htm Safety of the Flying Public and Local Communities Each year, 13 million passengers fly in and out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, which is owned and oper- ated by the City of St. Louis. Those flights pass daily over many communities near the air- port. With so many passengers using an airport within the St. Louis urban metropolitan area, any bird strike on an aircraft could pose a significant safety threat to people both in the air and on the ground. Next CAG Meeting The next Community Advisory Group meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 8, at 6:30 p.m. at Operating Engineers Local 513, 3449 Hollenberg Drive, Bridgeton, Mo. EPA encourages the commu- nity to attend and become involved in the Superfund process at the West Lake Landfill Site. Community Inquiries Ben Washburn 913-551-7364 Washburn.Ben@epa.gov Find Us On www.facebook.com/eparegion7 www.twitter.com/eparegion7 www.scribd.com/eparegion7 www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/west_lake_landfill i ------- |