A nuclear waste dump you can walk on

In Weldon Spring, Missouri, there is a strange, grey, windblasted seven-storey pile of rocks. It's the Weldon Spring Site: a nuclear and toxic waste dump on the site of an old uranium processing factory. And you can walk on it: it's technically a tourist attraction. That was going to be the whole of my video... and then I did some more research.

(you can find contact details and social links there too)

[TomScottGo]

If you're wondering why I look like such a mess: Missouri is hot and humid, and I am covered in a day's worth of sweat and sunblock. Couldn't even put my contact lenses in...!

[chelona]

The fact you can remember all of those lines and say them without trouble is mind blowing to me

[whiteland]

how did you not end with "such a waste"

[Dolthra]

Just popping in here in 2020 to point out that the underground trash fire in West Lake is still burning nearly a decade after it started.

[miepmiepzoefzoef]

And you did not even bring your Geiger counter?

[jimgeo]

I live in St. Louis. I can confirm that this is a disaster surrounded by misinformation and great uncertainty... to say the least. The worst part is that due to the close proximities these sites have to the Missouri River, their runoff usually goes into the Missouri, which later flows into the Mississippi north of STL’s drinking water taps. The West Lake Landfill is probably the most active concern, considering that the underground trash fire is quickly approaching the nuclear waste, with (so far) no barrier to stop the fire and little attempt to put it out. Residents near the landfill also report constant toxic odors that drift with the wind into their neighborhoods. The situation up here is something out of a fictional movie.

[GameKing]

Tom: Thank you so much for covering this! I actually live in the middle of this, West Lake is a stone's throw from where I live, and it's not just there... you can smell the Bridgeton Landfill, the one that has the underground fire, from my house on some days. This legacy from the 60s or earlier is a fact of life in this area of Missouri, and a concern for many. It means a lot that you came and covered this, thank you from everyone here.

[Stefano--]

Your videos are some of the best of youtube.
Straight to the point, not 10 minutes forced stretch.
No silly intros, and a great editing. Thank you Tom.

[TGoud]

My highschool I went to, Francis Howell High, is just over those trees (you can see it in a few shots of this video). That highschool was originally a military base, which was decommissioned in the 1940's and then converted into a school. During our PE classes, we would jog to the top of this thing and back. Us locals just call it the rock pile.

[roguedogx]

The sad part is we had a universal dump site assigned in Nevada, but because politics, we're not going to use it and continue leaving stuff where it is. If that sounds stupid and dangerous, it's because it is.

[minorbreakthrough]

Well researched, cool that you're actually at the location, good camera work, and impressive that you got it all in what appears to be a single take. Good work, as usual!

[sechura]

The second site mentioned that flooded previously can actually be accessed through some popular hiking trails in the area if you know where to leave the path, I've not personally gone but a friend went some years before the flood and said that the entire area around it was just straight abandoned one day as if everyone got up and left. No effort at all to actually clean the site up after they were done.

[SophiaCareese]

Me: living close to this pit, having friends who go to the highschool that is next to the pit

It is what it is

[ABaumstumpf]

"significantly higher" does not mean what most people think it does here:
It means that the difference to the average was significant enough that random fluctuations are unlikely to be the cause, it does not mean that there are many more cancer-cases.

Think of it like this:
Some things have, by default, a big spread. if something has a 5 in 1000 chance of occurring, it might very well be that you find 20, or 0.
in statistics now "significantly higher" means that the chance of the higher rate being natural is very minor, or the other way around - it is most certainly the radiation that caused the increase - but it doesn't tell us how much that is. it might be as little as an increase from 0.05% chance to 0.1% chance.


Fun bonus fact:
The stress caused by the fearmongering over radiation is actually more dangerous.
In Fukushima more people died as a direct result of anti-nuce quackery than people got cancer from the reactor meltdown. (not that we should in any way ignore the danger)

[chris]

Tom you should do a video on how you do your research/ make a video. It would be cool to get that insight.

[mackenziemartin]

oh my god!!!! I used to live there!! There's a high school a five minute walk away from that site that I used to go to, and you can actually see it at 1:53 behind the trees. We had to do a project on this thing and we had to discuss its history and its effects today. Super cool to see it shown here!!

[mattm]

This is about 15 minutes from where I grew up, and the crazy thing is that there is a highschool about 200 feet away. Its also the highest point in town, so the view is absolutely astonishing! There is also almost nothing for sound to reverberate off of, so speaking or clapping just seems off. It's a cool place!

[bobaloo]

My high school was about a half mile from the plant. I was shocked to go back 30 years later and see the plant gone and the giant hill of gravel.

[andyreed]

Tom, this is fascinating, I am thrilled someone totally removed from the situation in Weldon Spring and Bridgeton (the location of Westlake) is brining light to this problem. It's a big problem, but I feel most of us in the St. Louis area feel there's not a lot that we can do....especially given the recent apathetic role the EPA has taken on.

Although Weldon Spring certainly looks to be rural, it's not. There are loads and loads of housing developments, and a very large high school, nearby. I have grandparents in their 90s that live within the evacuation zone should the fire at Westlake spread, which would be a logistical and emotional nightmare to uproot them. The evacuation zone would also include Clayton, Missouri, which is a heavy financial / business area in St. Louis. Although the chances of a disaster happening are slim, it's possible And it would be devastating.

Anyway, great video Tom. I personally appreciate this video! And I hope you enjoyed St. Louis. This makes us look really really bad, but I swear it's a great place otherwise!

[lawrencecalablaster]

This is terrifying. Reminds me of the Marshall Islands fallout from nuclear testing nearby, & at once the Centralia coal fire.