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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
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