Charges Dropped for West Lake Landfill Protesters

Charges against 11 protesters who formed an all-day blockade in front of the Bridgeton and West Lake Landfill complex in St. Louis back in 2017 have been dropped.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the defendants faced trespassing, peace disturbance or resisting arrest charges after they chained themselves to barrels filled with concrete, rebar and tires. The nonprofit group that represented the 11 individuals announced 32 charges have been dropped “without prejudice.”

The West Lake landfill complex is the home of a radioactive Superfund site. In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would conduct additional testing at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo., before a much-anticipated remedy is applied to the site. EPA said its design phase for planning how to excavate most of the site’s radioactivity is expected to take longer than an initial 18-month plan.

Last fall, the owners of the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton sued Mallinckrodt LLC to help pay costs of the EPA’s cleanup. EPA ordered a $205 million cleanup to remove radioactive waste from the site.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch has more information:

Charges have been dropped against protesters who blocked the entrance to the Bridgeton and West Lake landfill complex — the north St. Louis County home to a radioactive Superfund site that, for years, has stoked local controversy and concern.

Eleven defendants faced trespassing, peace disturbance or resisting arrest charges after they formed an all-day blockade in 2017 by chaining themselves to barrels filled with concrete, rebar and tires.

ArchCity Defenders, the nonprofit law group that represented the protesters, said the 32 charges were dropped last week without prejudice.

Read the full article here.