There is currently an inextinguishable underground fire at Bridgeton Landfill that has been burning for five years.
And now the flames could reach the nuclear waste and send radioactive smoke over communities near the main St. Louis airport with little or no warning.
The underground fire and the nuclear waste are only 1,200 feet apart in an area north of St. Louis and may be growing closer.
A disaster plan has already been developed for use if St. Louis landfill fire reaches buried nuclear waste.
The landfill’s operator, Republic Services, argues that structures that grab gasses from below the surface exist to separate the waste from the blaze. And that the landfill is safe and intensively monitored.
According to the Missouri Times, pollutants and radiation are already spreading from the site.
As described by Newser: […] the emergency plan notes that flames could reach the nuclear waste and send radioactive smoke over communities near the main St. Louis airport “with little or no warning.” […]
Underground fires aren’t so rare in the USA… But near nuclear waste that’s a bigger problem…