http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-898380.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – "Long overdue!" is the response from an environmental monitoring group to an EPA decision to re-investigate toxic waste at Kansas City's Bannister Road Federal Complex.
The first EPA assessment since 1987 will decide if the complex should be included in a national priorities cleanup list. For years former workers have complained about the plant where nuclear weapons components were made, complained about toxins and health hazards.
The Sierra Club and Physicians for Social Responsibility asked for the investigation earlier this month. Ann Suellentrop of the physicians organization says plant records should show what was in waste pools and barrels.
"I've seen maps of the plume of pcb's underneath the plant," Suellentrop said. "I've seen maps of where it grew from the 50s to the 80s, how it spread."
The study will take in the entire complex on Bannister including former offices of several federal agencies.