DeGarmo, Denise

Dr. Denise DeGarmo is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Political Science at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, where she conducts research and teaches courses mainly on international relations. She specializes in international environmental security and nuclear policy in the United States. Dr. DeGarmo is also the author of International Environmental Treaties and State Behavior: Factors Influencing Cooperation (Routledge, 2004) and “Fermi and Pooh: A Strange Mix” (Physics Today, September 2006).

Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in the Metropolitan St. Louis Area: The Environmental and Health Legacy of the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works

2006 0-7734-5549-3
This book seeks to provide an examination of the history and consequences of the atomic legacy of St. Louis and the Metro-East by appealing to historians, WWII enthusiasts, environmentalists, as well as individuals interested in domestic and international nuclear policy. Dating back to the beginning of the “Atomic Age,” 2.5 million cubic yards of radioactive wastes have been dispersed throughout the St. Louis area. This waste resulted from atomic weapons work carried out by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works for the US government under secret contract. Between 1942 and 1966, over 300,000 tons of uranium had been processed in the downtown St. Louis and Weldon Spring plants. While bits and pieces of information regarding the atomic legacy of St. Louis can be found on a number of internet sites and in a few historical accounts of the Manhattan Project, to date there has been no comprehensive study of the secret contracting effort that made Mallinckrodt Chemical Works one of the most important contributors to the atomic bomb project. Nor has there been adequate discussion of the long-term consequences of this atomic program on the health and environment of the community.