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FLORISSANT — Formerly saying it wasn’t its role, a U.S. government agency tasked to find and remediate elevated levels of lingering radioactive waste from the World War II-era has asked for permission to install “informational� signs in communities along Coldwater Creek.

“They have requested to put them in our parks, our city property,� Florissant City Engineer Tom Goldkamp said of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, or FUSRAP.

Goldkamp said Florissant officials approved the request, but it was still unclear when the signs will go up and exactly where. An illustration of the signs shared with Florissant notes what FUSRAP is and that a “Coldwater Creek Floodplain Investigation� is underway.

Two bullet points stress:

• “Areas of low-level radioactive contamination may exist that do not pose a health risk if left undisturbed.â€�
• “Contact FUSRAP directly if you plan to dig or have questions about property improvements near the creek.â€�

Jeremy Idleman, a spokesman for the FUSRAP program in St. Louis, said the signs are still in draft form and that locations haven’t been finalized.

“We haven’t gotten that far to decide where they will be placed, but they will be placed in public access areas,� he said.

Florissant is just one municipality Coldwater Creek goes through in north St. Louis County. For years, FUSRAP and its contractors have been testing and remediating within the 10-year floodplain of the creek, stretching from the northern edge of St. Louis Lambert International Airport to the confluence with the Missouri River.

Regulatory goals for the costly cleanup were established in 2005. By now, the primary source of radioactive waste stored along Coldwater Creek by the airport, and surrounding areas, have mainly been remediated. The ongoing focus has been testing so the creek can finally be cleaned up by 2038. Elevated levels of contamination have been found several miles downstream, including in the creek bank near Jana Elementary School, which was closed following public concerns.

There have also been concerns that contamination would be dislodged when a McDonnell Boulevard bridge over the creek is replaced near the airport.

But reporting signals that many North County residents aren’t aware of the toxic legacy. Or if they are, they think the contamination was limited to the airport area.

In 2019, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommended signage. The Corps previously said it wasn’t its role to put up signs and that the contamination levels it was finding downstream were low and below ground surface.

In 2022, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, filed the Coldwater Creek Signage Act to put signs up along the creek to warn the community of potential exposure risks in areas where remediation hasn’t been completed. The bill didn’t pass, but the Corps, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Bush’s office have been in communication about the matter.

“Our office is proud to be working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize signage and get it posted,� Bush said in prepared remarks. “Our community deserves to be made whole, and we must start that process by ensuring residents are aware of the existence of any environmental harms in our own backyard.�

Idleman said the effort to put up signs now came out of a collaboration with the EPA to increase “awareness about FUSRAP and provide sound information.�

“We are just doing informational signs, not warning signs,� he said.

On Jan. 16, the EPA will also host public meetings from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hazelwood Civic Center. Officials plan to address concerns and discuss a “Technical Assistance Needs Assessment,� or TANA, that is coming soon for the Coldwater Creek area. The TANA will be informed by community feedback and interviews.

Kellen Ashford, an EPA spokesman, said by email that after consulting with the Corps, the EPA determined that a TANA would help “ensure the community has the resources necessary to understand complex, technical information that could enable meaningful community involvement with the remedial process� being done by the Corps.