Bill would compensate Missouri's Manhattan Project nuclear waste victims

July 13 (UPI) -- Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has announced a bill to compensate victims of Manhattan Project nuclear waste dumping in his state.

Hawley said in a statement that the people of St. Louis have "borne the burden" of radioactive contamination from the Manhattan Project, the U.S. government's long-shuttered program that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II.

Hawley visited the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center, the site is the former home of the Weldon Spring Uranium Materials Feed Plant, where atomic weapons and explosives were produced until 1966.

"It's time for their government to make it right," Hawley said. "What needs to happen is this: The federal government needs to pay the medical bills for any St. Louis resident who has contracted cancer or an autoimmune virus or a genetic disorder because of exposure to radioactive contamination."

Hawley's legislation came in response to an investigation by the Associated Press and MuckRock that examined hundreds of documents dating to the early 1950s and found that officials were aware of the risks when they improperly stored or dumped nuclear materials.

The primarily affected areas include areas around Coldwater Creek, a 19-mile tributary of the Missouri River that the U.S. Department of Energy found contained radioactive material in 1989. The area remains a "Superfund site" of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Sen. Hawley has consistently advocated on behalf of the Coldwater Creek community," his office said in a statement.

"Most recently, Sen. Hawley's legislation mandating the cleanup of Jana Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District and radioactive waste testing passed the U.S. Senate. Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also vowed to support it."