[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2347-S2348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Manhattan Project

  Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, today, there are new revelations, new 
evidence about the extent of the radioactive contamination that has 
plagued the St. Louis area since the forties.
  Where did this radioactive contamination come from? Simple, it came 
from the Federal Government. Beginning in the forties in the Manhattan 
Project, St. Louis was a center of development for uranium. But what 
did the Federal Government do when the Manhattan Project concluded? 
Well, we know more today after 15,000 pages of documents that had 
previously not been released were obtained by a parents' rights group 
in St. Louis and shared with news organizations.
  Here is what we learned. The Federal Government gave this radioactive 
waste, fobbed it off, onto companies in the region--who did what?--who 
poisoned the water, who poisoned the soil, who poisoned the air, and 
the government knew about it. Oh, yes, they knew about it. They knew 
about it for decades, and for year upon year upon year, they played 
down the threats. They tried to hide the evidence. They told the people 
of St. Louis: Oh, everything is fine. Don't be worried. Don't worry at 
all. It is all fine.
  Meanwhile, kids were playing along a creek filled with radioactive 
waste. Kids were going to school in buildings contaminated by the 
waste. Residents were coming out to houses, building homes in areas 
contaminated.
  And then the government wonders why the levels of cancer and 
autoimmune diseases and rare genetic disorders have spiked in the St. 
Louis region. Oh, we know. We know. It is because of the radioactive 
material from the Federal Government dumped into the St. Louis water 
and air and soil.
  Let's just review what we have learned. We now know that as early as 
1949--that is right, 1949--the Federal Government paid a contractor--a 
private contractor--to dispose of waste. But instead, that contractor 
left the radioactive waste in steel drums sitting out in the open in 
the elements, right next to a creek called Coldwater Creek, familiar to 
just about everybody who lives in the St. Louis region.
  It is familiar because whole housing developments and neighborhoods 
and--oh, yeah--schools have been built along Coldwater Creek. As early 
as the forties, that radioactive waste begins to leech out of those 
steel drums into the water.
  And it gets worse. The same Federal Government paid another 
contractor to dispose of other waste. And what did they do? Rather than 
dispose of it, they drove it to a public landfill. And in the early 
seventies, they just dumped the waste right into the landfill. They 
dumped it right into the landfill.
  ``How did this happen?'' you might ask. Well, as it turns out, that 
is a violation of Federal law.
  You think?
  But what did the Federal Government do about it in the seventies, 
when they learned that this government-paid contractor had carried out 
this illegal act? Did they prosecute him? Did they fine him? Did they 
at least have a hearing and ask some questions? No, no, and no. They 
did nothing. So the waste seeped into the soil, spread into the soil, 
and all the time the people of St. Louis were told: Don't worry. Don't 
worry. It is all going to be fine.
  In 1976, government tests--government tests--revealed that the levels 
of radiation in the creek water were at extremely dangerous levels--
1976. Here we sit in 2023, and we are told by the same Federal 
Government--the EPA, Department of Energy, Army Corps--that the cleanup 
of Coldwater Creek won't be done until at least 2038.
  Earlier this year, the school alongside Coldwater Creek, an 
elementary school, had to close, apparently permanently, because of 
radioactive contamination found inside the school. In response to that, 
this body took action and passed my bill to mandate Federal cleanup of 
the school and, if it can't be cleaned up, a new school to be built.
  I thank my colleagues for their unanimous support for that activity, 
but that is not going to be enough. No, it is clear today that further 
action is needed because the Federal Government has caused this harm. I 
want to be crystal clear about this. This is not the people of St. 
Louis saying that we had a weather incident, which would be bad enough. 
It is not a natural disaster, which would be terrible. No, no, no, this 
is their government using them, essentially, as human guinea pigs. This 
is their government dumping radioactive material into their water, into 
their soil, and then lying to them about it, not even for a year or 2 
years but for three-quarters of a century.
  And it still continues today. As I stand here, the Army Corps of 
Engineers insists there needs to be no further testing either around 
the elementary school, which is now closed, or anywhere else in the St. 
Louis region. And, at the same time, the EPA is admitting that the 
radioactive contamination of the soil has spread further than they 
previously admitted.
  I mean, what is it going to take to get some basic justice for the 
people of St. Louis? We are talking about working people. These are 
people who moved to these regions of the city in search of a quiet 
neighborhood, a good school for their kids, an opportunity for a better 
future. These are parents who allowed their kids to play in the creek 
because wasn't it awesome to have a creek right by their neighborhood. 
These are parents who sent their kids to the school trusting they would 
get a great education. And what did they get instead? Exposure to 
radioactive contamination.
  This shouldn't happen in this country. When it does happen, the 
Federal Government should make it right. That is what needs to happen 
now. I am sick to death of hearing the excuses from this government for 
decades on end. I am sick of the lies that they have told to the people 
of St. Louis, to working people from neighborhoods all across the city, 
that everything is just going to be fine: Just trust us; it is all 
going to work out.
  I am tired of this administration, which has still refused to answer 
my repeated pleas--repeated--to mount a cleanup effort at Jana 
Elementary

[[Page S2348]]

School, to clean up Coldwater Creek. All we get is finger-pointing and 
blame-shifting. The Department of Energy says it is the Army Corps' 
fault. The Army Corps says it is the Department of Energy's fault. 
Heck, for the recent news reports, the Department of Energy wouldn't 
even comment. They referred the reporter to the Department of Justice. 
I mean, what is next?
  Here is what needs to happen next. It is time for this body to act. 
In the past, when we have asked citizens--members of this Nation--when 
we asked them to bear unique burdens, when we have put them in harm's 
way, we have said: If you will serve your country in this way, we will 
stand with you. That is essentially what the people of St. Louis have 
been asked to do.

  The Manhattan Project was a national project for war. The people of 
St. Louis have borne the burden of it. It is time for the government to 
make it right.
  What should happen is this. The Federal Government should pay medical 
bills for any single resident who has contracted cancer or an 
autoimmune virus or genetic disorder because of exposure to radioactive 
contamination. The Federal Government needs to act.
  I will introduce legislation that will create a fund to make the 
people of St. Louis whole. Sadly, for some, it is too late. This has 
been going on for decades and too many members of our community have 
already been lost to cancer, to disease, to the hazards that were 
imposed on them by their government without their knowledge and without 
their consent. But that is no reason not to act now. We should act and 
act swiftly to provide remediation, to provide support for every member 
of this community who has suffered because of the actions of the 
Federal Government. We have done it in the past. We have done it for 
our veterans. We have done it for other folks who have been negatively 
impacted by the nuclear program dating back to the forties. We should 
do it now in the city and region of St. Louis. I will introduce 
legislation that will provide this support, that will provide this 
justice to the people of St. Louis.
  I will close by saying this. It is justice that we are talking about. 
This is not a handout to the people of St. Louis. They are not asking 
for a giveaway. They are asking for some basic fairness. When their 
government imposes on them disease and disaster because of nuclear 
contamination, the least their government can do is to make it right. 
And I will come to this floor as long as it takes until we make it 
right for the men and women and children of St. Louis.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.