Missouri families are one step closer to seeing a long-awaited cleanup of radioactive waste in North St. Louis County.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley secured new requirements in a government funding bill that forces the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a timeline for the West Lake Landfill.
I’m pleased that at my request the latest government funding bill contains new requirements to finalize the timeline for the cleanup of West Lake Landfill.
I look forward to working with @EPA @epaleezeldin to ensure this site – and Missourians – remain a top priority
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 16, 2026
President Trump is expected to sign the legislation as soon as this week.
The measure requires federal officials to detail staffing needs and remediation plans for the Bridgeton site. It builds on the momentum of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed last July that provided historic compensation for residents exposed to Manhattan Project waste.
More than 600 Missourians have already received nearly $30 million in relief under the expanded program.
This latest funding package also includes $40.5 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to address contamination at Coldwater Creek.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin previously committed to an expedited schedule that moves the start of excavation up by two years, from 2029 to 2027.
“The reason it has taken so long at West Lake is because it’s so bad, and they have started to find out how bad it is, and so they had to find all the radioactive waste because they don’t want to miss it during the cleanup,” Just Moms STL co-founder Dawn Chapman told KSDK.
“It’s hard to not look back and be angry because we were right – this site is a mess, and we said that 13 years ago. It took the EPA 10 years to catch up to that fact and agree with us. If they’d have done that a little earlier, we’d have probably been done with the cleanup.”
Hawley says the government poisoned these communities and must now finish the job of removing the waste.
The Interior and Environment bill passed the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority on Jan. 15 and now awaits the president’s signature to become law. Local leaders expect the new transparency requirements to prevent further excuses from federal agencies.
