ST. LOUIS – There are people in the St. Louis area concerned about the environment who might have cheered Scott Pruitt's resignation from the EPA if they lived anywhere else.
But in St. Louis, they were counting on promises from Pruitt to clean up their back yards.
Pruitt was backing a proposal to remove roughly 70-percent of the nuclear waste at the West Lake landfill in Bridgeton and put a cap over the rest, a demand local activists have been making for years with no few results.
But Thursday, Pruitt resigned before giving final approval to the plan.
Dawn Chapman has led the fight to clean up West Lake for the past five years.
"The administration allowed for him to come and be close to the community and I'm hoping the administration allows whoever is next to come and do the same and to come in and be boots on the ground involved. That's what we expect," said Chapman.
Chapman says she did get a call from someone in the agency assuring her West Lake is a priority not just for the EPA but for the Trump administration.
A final decision on what to do about the waste is expected by September. Chapman said she expects her group, Just Moms STL, will be back in D.C. before then trying to get the attention of the new EPA chief.
