On Point | Podcast The long-term effects of nuclear waste in St. Louis
Sep 11, 2025
Doug Clemens, a Missouri state representative and former chair of the Westlake Bridgeton Landfill Advisory Group, teams up with Linda Maurice, author of "Nuked," to discuss the haunting legacy of nuclear waste in St. Louis. They delve into the alarming cancer rates linked to the area's toxic past and share heart-wrenching personal stories from residents affected by contamination near Coldwater Creek. The duo also highlights the historical negligence stemming from WWII uranium processing and the urgent need for effective cleanup efforts to protect the community.
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Family Childhoods Turned Into Illness
- Debbie Mason and her sisters played in Coldwater Creek as children and later developed breast cancer in middle age.
- Doctors found their cancers were not genetic, prompting them to suspect environmental causes tied to the creek.
Manhattan Project Created Local Radioactive Waste
- Uranium refined for the Manhattan Project at St. Louis plants produced radioactive wastes that were dumped locally.
- Years later those wastes were linked to elevated rates of lung, bone cancer and leukemia in the area.
Representative Grew Up Beside The Creek
- Doug Clemens grew up with Coldwater Creek in his backyard and remembers catching crawdads and digging into contaminated banks.
- After being warned as a teen he avoided the creek but still experienced floods and later monitored his health for possible effects.
