A creek with #AtomicWaste from WWII is linked to increased #cancer risk

By Ronnie Cohen, July 21, 2025

Excerpt: "Children who lived near a #SaintLouis creek polluted with #radioactive #AtomicBomb waste from the 1940s through the 1960s were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer over their lifetimes than children who lived farther from the waterway, a new study has found.

"The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, corroborate worries that neighbors of #ColdwaterCreek have long held about the #MissouriRiver tributary where generations of children played.

Radioactive waste found at #Missouri elementary school

" 'We actually saw something quite dramatic, not only elevated risk of cancer, but one that increased steadily in a sort of dose-response manner the closer the childhood residents got to Coldwater Creek,' said the study's senior author, Marc Weisskopf, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"As part of the Manhattan Project, #MallinckrodtChemicalWorks processed uranium in St. Louis for the development of an atomic bomb. By the mid-1940s, according to historians, the company began to haul its radioactive waste north of the city, leaving it in open steel drums, unattended and exposed to the elements, next to Coldwater Creek."

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/07/21/nx-s1-5474883/nuclear-waste-manhattan-project-missouri-reca-jama?

#RadioactiveHazards #Cancer #NoNukes #NoWar #EPAFail #USPol #USGovtFail #NuclearWeapons #RethinkNotRestart #NoNuclearWar #EnvironmentalDisaster
#WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife

#SaintLouis’ long history of #radioactive #contamination. Highlights of 10 years of Post-Dispatch coverage.

Oct 9, 2025

"From the public announcement that #MallinckrodtChemicalWorks helped refine #uranium for the #ManhattanProject to the present, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has covered the issue of storing #RadioactiveWaste and subsequent #contamination of #ColdwaterCreek, #WeldonSpring and surrounding areas."

Read more:
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/history/collection_29db6be1-fe7f-56b6-bdc6-fcf9dda512cd.html#1

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/AIoN2

#RadioactiveHazards #Cancer #NoNukes #NoWar #EPAFail #USPol #USGovtFail #NuclearWeapons #RethinkNotRestart #NoNuclearWar #EnvironmentalDisaster
#WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife

Officials order demolition of #US homes after discovering #radioactive hazard: 'Safety is our number one priority'

"We've collected over 41,000 samples."

by Brianne Nemiroff, March 7, 2026

Excerpt: "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tested soil in the backyards of properties along the 800 block of Cades Cove Drive in #Florissant, #Missouri. It found #NuclearContamination between 2.5 and 17 feet below the foundations of the homes.

"The homes were built near #ColdwaterCreek, a waterway that has experienced contamination issues since the 1940s. Now, in February 2026, six of the homes on this block will be demolished.

"Lt. Col. Andrew James, Deputy Commander for the St. Louis District for the Army Corps of Engineers, said to Spectrum News, 'We've collected over 41,000 samples along Coldwater Creek. And although there's still more spots of contamination that we have to get, the data shows that these are the only homes that we have to demolish right now. For the residents in this area, especially the neighbors that are close … safety is our number one priority.'

"Spectrum News also spoke to Gina McNabb, a resident of the block whose home of 28 years was demolished. 'My husband's had #cancer, my kids had illnesses, and that's not to say that it definitely came from this, but now there's a question.'

"Federal authorities have not released the payouts to the affected homeowners; however, McNabb has confirmed that her home loan and moving expenses were paid off.

Those who participated in the #ManhattanProject focused more on physics than on the biological effects of radiation. Eighty years later, experts are still finding radiation in the soil under homes, in waterways, and an increased cancer risk in people living near high-risk areas, as stated by experts in an interview with PBS."

Read more:
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/neighborhood-demolition-due-to-uranium-contamination/

#NoNukes #NoWar #EPAFail #USPol #USGovtFail #NuclearWeapons #NuclearContamination #RethinkNotRestart #NoNuclearWar #EnvironmentalDisaster #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #FlorissantMO

firstalert4.com:
"
Florissant homes to be demolished due to Manhattan Project radioactive waste

The Army Corps of Engineers is tearing down the first of 6 houses built over contaminated soil from World War II-era nuclear program
"
".. waste originated from the Manhattan Project and leaked into Coldwater Creek decades ago due to improper storage."

https://www.firstalert4.com/2026/02/10/florissant-homes-be-demolished-due-manhattan-project-radioactive-waste/

10.2.2026

#Atombombe #Atommüll #Atomkraft #ColdwaterCreek #Florissant #Kernenergie #ManhattanProject #RadioactiveWaste #USA

A creek with atomic waste from WWII is linked to increased cancer risk

by Ronnie Cohen, July 21, 2025

"Children who lived near a St. Louis creek polluted with radioactive atomic bomb waste from the 1940s through the 1960s were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer over their lifetimes than children who lived farther from the waterway, a new study has found.

"The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, corroborate worries that neighbors of Coldwater Creek have long held about the #MissouriRiver tributary where generations of children played.

" 'We actually saw something quite dramatic, not only elevated risk of cancer, but one that increased steadily in a sort of dose-response manner the closer the childhood residents got to Coldwater Creek,' said the study's senior author, Marc Weisskopf, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"As part of the #ManhattanProject, #Mallinckrodt Chemical Works processed #uranium in #SaintLouisMO for the development of an #AtomicBomb. By the mid-1940s, according to historians, the company began to haul its #RadioactiveWaste north of the city, leaving it in open steel drums, unattended and exposed to the elements, next to #ColdwaterCreek."

[...]

"Almost one-quarter of the participants [in a study] reported having cancer. Those who lived within one kilometer of the creek as children were 44% more likely to report having cancer than those who lived more than 20 kilometers away. Even more striking, those who lived within one kilometer of the creek were 85% more likely to have radiosensitive cancers, cancers believed to be caused by radiation."

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/07/21/nx-s1-5474883/nuclear-waste-manhattan-project-missouri-reca-jama?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#Downwinders #WaterIsLife #NuclearWasteIsForever #NPRReporting

People who lived as children near #ColdwaterCreek in #Missouri saw higher cancer rates linked to #WWII #nuclear waste #contamination.

https://theglobeandatlas.com/study-ties-higher-cancer-risk-to-wwii-nuclear-waste-in-missouri-creek/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

#NuclearWaste #ColdwaterCreek

From CBS News.com: Their local creek carried nuclear waste. Now, they're dying of cancer.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coldwater-creek-st-louis-missouri-nuclear-waste-manhattan-project/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

Five revelations about St. Louis’ history with radioactive waste

By: Allison Kite - July 12, 2023

"The #MissouriIndependent and #MuckRock spent months scouring thousands of pages of government records about St. Louis’ involvement in the race to build an #AtomicBomb during World War II and decades of #environmental #contamination that followed.

"Journalists sought to lay bare the degree to which government officials knew of the spreading contamination and the danger it posed to St. Louis County residents.

"While the contamination at the #WestLakeLandfill and in #ColdwaterCreek has been covered extensively for decades, documents obtained by the newsrooms revealed the way federal officials failed to take stronger measures to protect the health of St. Louis-area residents."

Read more:
https://missouriindependent.com/2023/07/12/five-revelations-about-st-louis-history-with-radioactive-waste/
#RadioactiveContamination #ColdWar #SaintLouisMissouri