On a North County, Missouri Facebook page, alumni communed in 2011 to plan their upcoming class reunion. What they didn’t expect to find was the level of birth defects, cancers, autoimmune diseases, and other peculiar disorders that they, their classmates, friends, siblings, parents and children had been diagnosed with. When they started to piece the evidence together, they realized that they all had one thing in common – proximity to illegal dumping from Mallinckrodt Chemical Company.
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. Three of the 382 worksites involving atomic weapons manufacturing were based in St. Louis, Missouri, and they are covered by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICPA).
- Mallinckrodt Chemical Company (Destrehan Street Plant) – 1942-1958 (DOE) (St. Louis, Missouri) (a/k/a Mallinckrodt Chemical Works; MCW; St. Louis Downtown Site)
- St. Louis Airport Storage Site (SLAPS) – 1947-1971 (DOE) (St. Louis, Missouri) (a/k/a Robertson Airport; Robertson Storage Area)
- Tyson Valley Powder Farm – 1946-1948 (AWE) (St. Louis, Missouri)
Congress passed the EEOICPA in 2001 to provide compensation to workers and their survivors who have developed certain illnesses as a result of exposure to radioactive and toxic substances while employed by the Department of Energy or one of its contractors or subcontractors in the nuclear weapons industry.
Illegal Dumping
Not only was The Manhattan Project detrimental to employees and their loved ones, but Lacy M. Johnson’s essay, “The Fallout” in her 2018 book, The Reckonings, notes that “fifty thousand tons of uranium was dumped illegally in 1973.” Johnson is a Houston-based professor, curator, activist and author who has homed in on a phenomenon until recently little known to Saint Louis residents and neighbors of the West Lake landfill, which is teeming with uranium ore residue from the Manhattan Project.
If you or a loved one worked for one of these test sites then EEIOCPA claims process can be a confusing and frustrating one. If you need information, our EEOICPA claims’ attorneys have compiled a list of frequently asked questions. Or if you’d prefer, reach out to us directly for assistance:
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EEOICPA Attorneys for Claims in Missouri
- New claims, denied claims, hearings, impairment ratings, dose reconstructions, appeals and terminal claims.
- Coverage for Radiation and Uranium workers, spouses, children, and grandchildren.
- You may be eligible for up to $400,000.
- Tax-free awards. No fee unless you are awarded.
- Our fees are 2% for an initial claim, plus 10% if the claim is recommended for denial.
- We coordinate home health care (HHC) and other medical benefits.