Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The agency has given a group of fourth-grade students at the Center for Creative Learning the President's Environmental Youth Action Award.
The following information was provided by the Rockwood School District: Students in Kathy Nuetzel’s fourth-grade class have earned the President’s Environmental Youth Action Award by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7. The award is in recognition of their work to raise awareness of dangers of vehicle idling and their efforts to curb this problem. According to Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator for the EPA, these students have demonstrated awesome initiative and tremendous stewardship skills to minimize vehicle idling. “This project is increasing the public's knowledge about vehicle idling and motivating parents and bus drivers to shut off cars and buses in the school and bus pick-up lines," said Brooks. “Their Action4Air …
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 …
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
FIRST AND ONLY IN U.S.: With new technology to apply, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives initiate a new round of ground testing for residual dioxin at Route 66 State Park near Eureka on Tuesday afternoon.
By appearance sake, Route 66 State Park near Eureka looks like any other nice multipurpose place for outdoor enthusiasts. But 20 years ago, the area looked vastly different, as it was the site of one of the worst dioxin-contaminated places in the United States when it was the town of Times Beach, MO, thanks to the poisonous sludges sprayed on its dusty roads by waste hauler Russell Bliss. The sludge oil from Bliss was first found to be contaminated with dioxin during an investigation by EPA teams in 1982. During the same period, the Meramec River flooded the city, and residents were forced to evacuate their homes. Subsequently, the Centers for Disease Control recommended the residents who had been evacuated, as well as those who had …
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Former Times Beach, MO, Mayor Marilyn Leistner is now a Eureka alderman. She wonders why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to return to the worst dioxin contamination site—her former city.
Marilyn Leistner no longer governs a city as mayor. Residents of her former municipality, Times Beach, MO, disbanded the city after avalanches of challenges once it was discovered the worst dioxin chemical contamination in history occurred there. Now U.S. Environmental Protection Agency representatives are returning to Leistner's non-existent town Tuesday to collect new soil samples to test, an area that eventually was made into Route 66 State Park. See related Eureka-Wildwood Patch article from Monday: EPA Revisits Times Beach Former Dioxin Site 15 Years Later "I'm uncertain what to think about EPA coming back. It sounds like whitewash," said Leistner. "We know dioxin is there (at what now is the park). They cleaned it up to 20 parts per…
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Finally, vacant houses and a few outer buildings associated with a former Superfund area that neighbors considered eye sores to their otherwise beautiful Wildwood subdivisions are coming down. The buildings are off Strecker Road near Manchester Road.
Demolition of the vacant structures located on a Strecker Forest site at 165 and 173 Strecker Road in Wildwood began Monday. These houses and buildings were left standing since local home builder Wesley Byrne and Wildwood officials entered a lawsuit in 2008 about developing the nearby, former Superfund site and remediated land into a new residential subdivision. Neighbors complained the vacant structures detracted from their property values and sent negative perceptions about the area. Concerns about freeing dangerous, potential contaminants prevented city officials from taking action, however. Following advice of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wildwood's environmental consultant, city council members recently authorized the …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
What does Environmental Protection Agency's recent withdrawal of dioxin remediation goals mean to Wildwood's anticipation of a final report from the agency regarding the long-term health safety of the city's former Superfund site?
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials took unexpected action that has left local experts at a loss, Wildwood's City Administrator Dan Dubruiel told city council members at Monday's council meeting. Dubruiel said the EPA recently withdrew its preliminary dioxin remediation goals (PRG) from the White House Office of Management and Budget review. Wildwood representatives now wonder if that will affect the EPA's rulings on samples recently taken at Wildwood sites that have caused a chain of controversy since 2007. Wildwood representatives for years have been dealing with EPA officials regarding a former Superfund site located in Wildwood, which was remediated and then purchased by a local resident whose goal was to create a new …
Monday, January 10, 2011
FIRST IN SERIES OF ARTICLES: After 27 years since remediation, toxicological experts hired by Wildwood city officials report existing site contaminants pose human health risks unacceptable by EPA and state standards. Expert presents findings tonight.
A toxicologist hired by Wildwood city officials has concluded that a proposed housing development on property once listed as a Superfund site still has levels of dioxin and similar chemicals that exceed EPA standards for human safety. The former Primm property, located at 165 to 177 Strecker Rd., is a controversial tract that has been involved in litigation between the housing developer and the city for years. Tonight, the city is scheduled to receive the report by Environmental Stewardship Concepts LLC in Richmond, VA. "The potential or actual risks at the site are sufficient to warrant further investigation on the nature and extent of contamination throughout the full site, including the creek," wrote Peter deFur, president of the firm, …
Michael Rhodes
8:24 am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Very impressed to see these students address a matter that not only impacts them but the community. GREAT JOB!!!! more ›