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National update: Conflicts over risks of fire, nuclear waste, stoke fears of St. Louis Co. landfills

St. Louis Public Radio | By Véronique LaCapra
Published November 3, 2015 at 10:12 AM CST
An underground fire has been smoldering in the Bridgeton Landfill for five years, about 1,000 feet away from tons of nuclear waste in the adjacent West Lake Landfill.
Véronique LaCapra | St. Louis Public Radio
An underground fire has been smoldering in the Bridgeton Landfill for five years, about 1,000 feet away from tons of nuclear waste in the adjacent West Lake Landfill.

St. Louis Public Radio has been following developments at a landfill complex in St. Louis County, where for five years an underground fire has been smoldering at the Bridgeton Landfill, about 1,000 feet away from radioactive waste at the adjacent West Lake Landfill.

The situation is unique, and we thought it merited national attention. You can listen to our national update below, or read the story at npr.org.Listen to our national story about the landfills as it aired on NPR's Morning Edition on Tuesday.

If you're new to the landfill issues or have questions about the situation, please check out our FAQ for more information. And stay tuned to St. Louis Public Radio and stlpublicradio.org for future landfill news and analysis.

Follow Véronique LaCapra on Twitter: @KWMUScience

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Véronique LaCapra
Science reporter Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio documentaries at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France. LeCapra reported for St. Louis Public Radio from 2010 to 2016.
See stories by Véronique LaCapra