A landfill in the suburbs of St. Louis has been smoldering for years. Apparently it’s stinky, but hasn’t been deemed especially dangerous. Now, the fire is moving closer to an adjacent landfill that contains illegally dumped radioactive waste from uranium processing. The nearby towns and school districts are making emergency plans in case of some sort of nuclear fallout type of event.
What might actually occur if the fire reaches the nuclear waste?
The smoke might spread radioactive particles through the air. These are very unlikely to be an acute problem, but more like Radon - a long-term, low-level threat. Still, nobody wants to increase their chances of getting lung cancer.
From the article.
What is the depth of the fire? With 1,000 feet separating the two at the moment, would it be possible right now to dig a trench between the two and fill it with compacted impervious clay to act as a barrier? Or is this also a political hot potato (pun intended) the various political entities have to bluster and pontificate their self-importance blame game at the expense of a potential environmental and health incident?