St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Letters to the Editor
by Karen Nickel
Regarding “Plan to shift West Lake cleanup to Corps hits roadblock” (July 14):
Last week, I traveled to Washington to observe Reps. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, testify about the Environmental Protection Agency’s inaction on the West Lake Landfill, which is only about 10 minutes from my home. I personally saw their passion and frustration about the EPA’s sluggish work on the landfill.
I strongly support the bill they introduced in Congress (HR 4100) with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, to put the Army Corps of Engineers in charge of the landfill cleanup. Unfortunately, several members of Congress and agency bureaucrats have argued that this bill would delay the cleanup and that we should just let the EPA do its job.
Try telling that to those of us who have waited 26 years for the EPA to do something about the landfill. We want the government to clean up the landfill and protect us. For this community, it is not about a quick solution; it’s about doing it right. The Army Corps of Engineers successfully remediated many sites in our region and is the best choice to keep us safe.
Karen Nickel • Maryland Heights
