JEFFERSON CITY – State Rep. Tricia Byrnes will hold a press conference in the House Lounge of the Missouri State Capitol Building to discuss efforts to protect citizens and seek answers as to whether victims of atomic bomb and hazardous waste in the St. Louis and St. Charles Counties could receive compensation from the United States government. The press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7 at 4 p.m.
Rep. Byrnes, a freshman Republican from Wentzville and mother of a cancer survivor, has filed HCR 21, which would urge the Missouri Attorney General, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to conduct a joint investigation into whether the State of Missouri and its residents could potentially receive monetary compensation from the United States Government for contamination of the environment with radioactive and other hazardous contaminants from the Manhattan Project.
St. Louis, St. Charles, and the surrounding region hosted uranium processing plants for the production of military explosive and nuclear weapons and to this day contend with the dumped radioactive and toxic contaminants and equipment related to this work.
Byrnes will have community experts on hand to testify and provide health studies and data from government agencies.