For decades, families in North St. Louis County made a life near Coldwater Creek without knowing the danger flowing through it. In neighborhoods like Florissant, Hazelwood, Ferguson, Berkeley, and Spanish Lake, the creek ran alongside backyards, schools, and parks. Children played in its current. Workers commuted past it. No one suspected that beneath the surface, Coldwater Creek was contaminated, quietly carrying radioactive waste leftover from one of the most secretive military programs in U.S. history.
Today, the illnesses speak for themselves: rare cancers, autoimmune disorders, unexplained chronic conditions. And mounting evidence suggests these are not isolated tragedies, but part of a broader public health disaster. Many who grew up near the creek are now living with, or dying from, diseases they never imagined would affect their families.
AVA Law Group believes in holding power accountable, whether that power is the federal government or a corporate polluter. If you or someone you love lived near Coldwater Creek and has been diagnosed with cancer or other serious illnesses, you deserve answers. You may also be entitled to compensation.
St. Louis became a key site for the Manhattan Project, the secret federal initiative that developed the first atomic bombs during World War II. At Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in downtown St. Louis, scientists refined uranium used in nuclear weapons. What remained behind, however, was not science but waste: radioactive byproducts that needed to be stored, handled, and contained.
Thousands of barrels of uranium residues were stored outdoors at a site near Lambert Airport. As early as the late 1940s, the barrels began to corrode and leak. Contaminated runoff entered Coldwater Creek. In the 1960s, some waste was moved to Hazelwood’s Latty Avenue site, spreading contamination along haul routes. Radioactive materials were also illegally dumped at West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton in 1973, and remain there to this day.
Mapping Manhattan Project radioactive waste across the St. Louis region
Internal documents suggest that federal officials and contractors were aware of the risks as early as 1949. Despite this, nearby communities were not warned. Agencies claimed human contact with the creek was “minimal,” even as children played in the floodplain and neighborhood schools sat within yards of the water. This wasn’t a natural disaster. It was a slow-moving manmade crisis hidden behind bureaucracy, national security secrecy, and denial.
As years passed, families began to notice a pattern: too many funerals, too many diagnoses that came too soon. A grassroots survey in 2015 reported more than 2,500 cases of cancer, tumors, and birth defects among current and former residents. A 2025 peer-reviewed study by Harvard’s School of Public Health confirmed what many had feared. Children who grew up near Coldwater Creek from the 1940s to 1960s were 44% more likely to develop cancer later in life. Of the 4,200 individuals studied, 24% had been diagnosed with cancer. Those who lived closest to the creek had the highest rates. Dr. Marc Weisskopf, an environmental epidemiologist and co-author of the study, “Our research indicates that the communities around North St. Louis appear to have had excess cancer from exposure to the contaminated Coldwater Creek.”
These are not statistics on a page; they’re real people. A warehouse worker in Hazelwood. A school nurse in Florissant. A retired airport janitor from Kinloch. And thousands more who had no idea that their creek, their home, could harm them.
The federal government acknowledged the contamination as early as the 1980s, but significant cleanup didn’t begin until 1997. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to remove radioactive soil as part of a long-running remediation project, which is expected to last until 2038. In the meantime, families kept getting sick. In response to mounting public pressure and new scientific data, the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was expanded in 2024 to include Coldwater Creek victims. This was the first time the U.S. government publicly acknowledged its role in exposing St. Louis residents to nuclear waste. Under the updated RECA program:
While RECA is an important step, it does not fully address the harm done. The compensation is limited since many illnesses remain uncovered, and no amount of money can restore lost health or bring back loved ones.
The truth about Coldwater Creek has finally come to light. But acknowledgment alone is not justice. Compensation alone is not accountability.
By pursuing legal action, you can take back some control and help ensure that future generations are never left in the dark like yours was.
If you lived near Coldwater Creek and have been diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness, we invite you to reach out. Our legal team will listen to your concerns, review your information, and clearly explain your options. Whether through a RECA claim, mass tort lawsuit, or FTCA filing, we will fight to get you the justice and support you deserve.
You’ve already lived with unanswered questions for too long. Let us help you get clarity and the compensation you may be owed.
Contact AVA Law Group today. We’re here to listen. We’re here to help. And we’re here to fight for you.
