Missouri State Rep. Tricia Byrnes is asking those affected by toxic nuclear waste to come to a 4pm March 7 hearing of the General Laws Committee in the state Capitol. Byrnes writes on Facebook, “I’m newly elected Rep. Tricia Byrnes and mother of a child impacted by the St. Louis and St. Charles toxic weapons waste from our region’s role in the Manhattan Project.”
That project scattered bomb-related facilities across the country, beginning during World War II. Now persons suffering from the long-term hazards in St. Louis and St. Charles, MO, have a chance to tell legislators about the toxic results over the generations.
The Facebook page on the 3/7 hearing, https://www.facebook.com/events/s/toxic-waste-victims-committee-/878493913425442/, gives the quotation (above) from Byrnes. She goes on to say, “Like you, I want to get federal legislation to pay for medical screening and health care.”
Byrnes’ own Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ByrnesMO, quotes a St. Louis news report from KMOV as saying, “Two Missouri State Representatives have filed two bills to seek answers for people who are victims of hazardous and atomic bomb waste in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties. Rep. Tricia Byrnes (R) and Rep. Richard West (R), both from Wentzville, have filed bills HCR 21 and HCR 22, respectively, to urge the Missouri Attorney General, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to investigate whether the State of Missouri and residents could get compensated from the United States Government for contamination caused by the Manhattan Project.
“Byrnes has also filed another bill, HB 1361, that would have the Department of Health and Senior Services make a heat map of any cancer or other condition caused by hazardous and atomic bomb waste that compensation was or is available under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.”
Persons interested in the March 7 hearing and the future of concurrent resolutions 21 and 22 may check with the Facebook sites noted above. Among the groups active in raising awareness about nuclear contaminants in the St. Louis and St. Charles area are the STL Toxic Waste Alliance and Just MOMS STL.
(c) 2023, Jane Stoever, Bennette Dibben, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License
