Come See The Nuclear Waste Bike Trail

Share this

The recently cleaned-up Weldon Spring site in St. Charles County, Missouri is now open to tourists. As part of its reclamation project for the hazardous waste site, the Department of Energy has opened an interpretive center at the base of "a seven-story high tomb of radioactive waste." The St. Louis Post Dispatch writes, "The mountainous site covers 45 acres and stores 1.5 million cubic yards of material. And it's there for you to explore." A new 6-mile-long hiking and biking trail is scheduled to open in the fall. The Weldon Springs site manufactured explosives during World War II. In the 50s, the site processed uranium for nuclear weapons. During the 60s, uranium and other radioactive materials were disposed on the site. In 1967, the US Army used the site to produce "dangerous herbicides." Some local residents blame the waste site for a "recent cluster of infant deaths and illnesses," the Post Dispatch reports. "I think it's fluff to make people feel safer than they are," the mother of one of the children who died said of the Department of Energy's public access plans.