News Releases from Headquarters›Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)

Potentially Responsible Parties Agree to Conduct Remedial Design for West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Missouri

WASHINGTON -- The Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) for the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site have entered into an agreement with EPA to conduct the Remedial Design necessary to implement the remedy set forth in the Record of Decision Amendment announced Sept. 27, 2018, for Operable Unit 1 (OU-1) at the site in Bridgeton, Missouri. Operable Unit-1 is contaminated with radiologically impacted material.

EPA negotiated an amendment to the existing Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (ASAOC) with Bridgeton Landfill, LLC; Cotter Corporation (N.S.L.); and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the performance of the Remedial Design. Signing of this agreement begins the formal Remedial Design process.

“This agreement represents another significant milestone for the West Lake project and paves the way for the next phase of work – remedial design,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Our top priority is worker and community safety, and this design process plays an important role in achieving that objective.”

“This Administrative Settlement and Order on Consent is an enforceable agreement with the PRPs who will perform the work under EPA oversight,” Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford said. “The design work includes additional site testing, modeling, and engineering design that are required to ensure the remedy can be implemented in the most expedient and safe manner."

As part of the agreement, the PRPs will submit for EPA’s review and approval a Remedial Design Work Plan that includes an overview of the remedial design process, a description of specific elements of the design, and a preliminary design schedule.

The West Lake Landfill Superfund Site is an approximately 200-acre, inactive solid waste disposal facility located in Bridgeton. The site was used agriculturally prior to 1939 when a limestone quarrying and crushing operation began. Beginning in the early 1950s, the quarried areas and adjacent areas were used for landfill municipal refuse, industrial solid wastes, and construction/demolition debris. Two areas of the site were radiologically contaminated in 1973 when 39,000 tons of potentially contaminated surface soil, mixed with 8,700 tons of radioactive leached barium sulfate residues, were reportedly stockpiled at the site and used for landfilling operations. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List in 1990.

EPA remains committed to keeping the community informed of the status of the Remedial Design as it progresses.