Saturday, December 29, 2012
Here are some interesting notations from the Environmental Protection Agency open house held in Wildwood earlier this year. With the removal of more buried barrels of paint waste earlier this month, some residents still wonder what to believe.
At the last open house meeting hosted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, they told Wildwood residents they do not believe there are any remaining human health issues at the former Superfund Bliss-Ellisville site in Wildwood. A portion of the remediated area, the Strecker Forest development, was proposed to be constructed into 21 houses by homebuilder Wesley Byrne. But some residents and city officials were not sure what to make of the latest EPA cleanup effort and underground barrels found at the former toxic waste dump off Strecker Road in Wildwood earlier this month. See previous article: EPA's Latest 'Dioxin-Related' Cleanup in Wildwood Prompts New Concerns The three barrels, estimated at 55-gallon drums, were …
Sunday, December 16, 2012
When the dioxin-laden, former city of Times Beach near Eureka flooded in 1984, one Wildwood resident who helped with the cleanup said all residents were kept out of their homes until Christmas that year.
Twenty-eight years ago, a major flood from the Meramec River on Dec. 7 changed the lives of many local residents who resided in the former town of Times Beach. The flood altered the Christmases of many people that year, some of whom still live locally. Marilyn Leistner, one of Eureka's board of aldermen, was the mayor of Times Beach at the time. She was known as a never-ending advocate for her town, said Pat Bellrose, owner of Fahr Greenhouse in Wildwood. Bellrose reminisced about the whole post-flood Times Beach actions, especially his role in the Ecumenical Task Force, driven by several church groups, including Most Sacred Heart of Eureka, St. Marks Lutheran, Central Baptist Church and nearby Menonites. Bellrose said the residents of …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
After EPA officials said they discovered a small amount of paint-related waste that should be removed from the Bliss-Ellisville Superfund site in Wildwood, residents weren't sure what to make of its significance.
On Nov. 23, some Wildwood residents received an e-mail from Benjamin Washburn, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public affairs specialist, which stated "EPA Region 7 will begin work on a small scale removal action on the Callahan property on Monday, November 26, to remove suspected paint wastes that were discovered at the site during the Expanded Site Review" (EPA report dated 6/13/2012). As that remediation work comes to completion, some who live in Wildwood still have questions. Dan Topik, a Wildwood resident who lives next to the targeted area pointed out, according to the EPA Work Plan and related documents, 1000 cubic yards of dirt was to be removed from an area 100 feet by 60 feet at an estimated depth of 13 feet. "That seems …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The historic bridge at Route 66 State Park visitors' center runs over the Meramec River near Eureka, but is not safe for pedestrians, cyclists or vehicles. The bridge was 80 years old this year.
The bridge that originally carried Route 66 over the Meramec River, near what was the city of Times Beach, is starting to be disassembled this week just outside of Eureka. A crew member from XL Contracting, the staff handling the deconstruction of the bridge, told Patch Monday the concrete on the bridge will be cut into slabs and taken off, along with the railing. He said the bridge's beams will be left, in hopes that some entity will want to rebuild the bridge in the next five years. He also said the bridge work was slated to be done by Dec. 14. The Meramec River Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 16, 2009, according to Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) records. The Meramec River Route 66 …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
EPA Findings: "Soil samples from Route 66 State Park show no significant health risks for park visitors or workers."
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 officials on Monday declared Route 66 State Park in Eureka safe for visitors and workers after a dioxin soil sampling project initiated this summer. The park is property of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. DNR representatives requested soil sampling during June to apply new sciences to test for traces of dioxin in the soil. See related articles published in June by Eureka-Wildwood Patch: EPA Revisits Times Beach Former Dioxin Site 15 Years Later Former Times Beach Mayor: "We Know Dioxin Is There" EPA Gathers Soil Samples at Route 66 State Park in Eureka to Check Dioxin Levels Results from a new soil sampling technique called "dioxin toxicity criterion," finalized in February…
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Still dealing with dioxin issues 15 years post-cleanup but with new test results: Environmental Protection Agency's Region 7 team inform Wildwood residents most of contaminated area is safe for living and future building.
For the last five years, concerned Wildwood residents, city staffers, council members, government officials, consultants, lawyers, a judge and a particular home developer have been trying to determine just how far-reaching the devastating effects of a dioxin-laced Superfund site in Wildwood may extend to land that immediately adjoins the contaminated homestead of infamous waste hauler Russell Bliss. Home builder Wesley Byrne is particularly focused on environmental issues related to the controversial land, because he and Wildwood city representatives have been locked in a lawsuit since 2007 that prevents him from building a new subdivision on the 18.3 acres he owns there. New answers now are coming from the U.S. leading authority in …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wildwood city officials were both applauded and challenged about decision to spend more money on assessing recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report of former Superfund site and proposed home area.
Once Wildwood City Council members voted by majority at Monday's council meeting to spend up to $10,000 with environmental consultants to analyze and reassess the final report provided last week by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials, residents expressed both support and opposition to the continued pursuit to discern whether select property in Wildwood is truly safe after it was a former Superfund site three decades ago. See Monday article as background prior to meeting: Wildwood City Leader Seeks Legal, Technical Clarifications of EPA Report on Proposed Strecker Forest Homes In Monday's council work session, Wildwood City Administrator Dan Dubruiel reiterated that the city needed to "preserve all our legal options." He said …
Monday, June 25, 2012
A discussion about authorizing more environmental consulting work is slated to occur at Monday evening's work session of Wildwood City Council members, following a final report of Environmental Protection Agency experts Thursday.
Are official viewpoints of the leading, national environmental authorities enough, and are they trustworthy? Wildwood city representatives are asking this (multi)million dollar question. After U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials delivered what was classified as a final report of the Strecker Forest Expanded Site Review on Thursday evening at a public open house, Wildwood City Council members are scheduled to discuss whether to authorize $7,500 to $10,000 more environmental consultation work to assess EPA's results at Monday evening's work session. A legal-based time bomb is ticking in that the judge handling the four-year legal dispute between Wildwood and custom home builder Wesley Byrnes indicated he intends to schedule a …
Friday, June 22, 2012
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency experts provided a final report on Thursday evening for the Strecker Forest Expanded Site Review recently conducted in Wildwood.
Three geographic areas of environmental concern in Wildwood were reviewed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency experts Thursday evening, as a final report to the project called the Strecker Forest Expanded Site Review. Wildwood residents learned that while this report concludes this part of the overall EPA process, EPA's involvement in the former Superfund area called the Bliss-Ellisville site "is not over." The open house occurred at the Daniel Boone Library Branch in Ellisville. Overview of Project, Per New EPA Fact Sheet: Strecker Forest Homesites The southern portion of the 18-acre parcel where new homesites are proposed is free of contaminants exceeding a level of concern, except for a small, isolated area where elevated dioxin …
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Environmental Protection Agency officials will deliver results of a recent reassessment report, and take questions Thursday evening at a public open house at 7 p.m. See why this report is so critical.
Wildwood city officials and residents alike are holding their breaths to see what Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 team members will tell them Thursday evening about the current risks and overall safety of a certain portion of the city that still remains on the Final National Priorities List (NPL). This is a list on which the environmental group keeps known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants throughout the United States and its territories. The NPL guides EPA experts' decisions regarding which sites warrant further investigation. The Bliss-Ellisville Superfund site, located in what is now Wildwood, went on the NPL in 1983. EPA's present designation of this site is reflected as the "…
Marc Perez
7:02 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012
Every Government agency that exists could state the Dioxin sites are clean and clear, ready to go, but who would build/buy a house on a superfund clean up site? Not going to happen! Might be a good place for a park? more ›