"Bad combination: Floodplains, nuclear materials and understated risk"

The West Lake Landfill, photo by Bob CrissThe St. Louis Beacon has posted an article entitled "Bad combination: Floodplains, nuclear materials and understated risk," about a radioactive waste dump (pictured at left) containing some of the oldest hazardous remnants of the Atomic Age, upstream of St. Louis and drinking water intakes, now put at risk by flooding in the area. The article was written by Bob Criss, a professor in the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University, and coauthor of the 2003 book, "At the Confluence: Rivers, Floods, and Water Quality in the St. Louis Region." His article also warns about the risks of Missouri River flooding at the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear power plants in Nebraska.