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STLtoday – Former Weldon Spring uranium workers seek money for cancer claims

Former Weldon Spring uranium workers seek money for cancer claims

By Susan Weich

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

12/07/2008 A single doorway separated the conference room from the museum in Weldon Spring, but the people gathered on each side couldn’t have been further apart.

On one side of the interpretive center, tour guide Judy Huster described how safe the site of the former uranium-ore processing plant is. Outside a 75-foot-tall mound of rock conceals a cleanup of 1.48 million cubic yards of low-level radioactive material, including the facility’s 43 buildings, and visitors are encouraged to climb to the top for a great view.

On the other side last week, former plant workers and others were seeking help about how to file medical compensation claims………………rom 1957 to 1966, the plant, run by Mallinckrodt for the Atomic Energy Commission, processed uranium ore concentrates and a small amount of thorium. Wastes generated during operations were stored in four open-air lagoons called raffinate pits.

There weren’t many jobs in St. Charles County at that time, and Schneider said working for the Atomic Energy Commission was quite an honor. She said workers had no idea they were in any danger.

STLtoday – Former Weldon Spring uranium workers seek money for cancer claims

December 9, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized