St. Charles, Missouri 63304
Free admission and parking
https://www.lm.doe.gov/Weldon/Interpretive_Center/
The Weldon Spring Interpretive Center opened in 2002 to share the history of the area and to promote our natural environment. This existing building will be replaced in a few years with a new 10 million dollar interpretive center.
As the previous home to materials including TNT and uranium, the site is owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management.
Although the department is responsible for more than 80 sites nationwide, Weldon Spring is one of only two that include interpretive centers for the public and is the only one where the public can climb to the top of the disposal cell which houses the contaminated remains from the previous uses.
The museum is one large room with multiple displays.
The displays are divided into six areas.
Originally this acreage included 3 communities, shown in these pictures, plus many family farms covering 18,000 acres, a total of 576 inhabitants. All property owners were bought out in 1940, at the start of World War II.
Then a TNT and DNT plant was built to help with the war effort. It was in operation until August 1945. In 1957, during the Cold War era, the uranium processing facility pictured below was built on the relatively deserted site. Uranium processed here was used in both the nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel cycle processes. The plant remained open until 1966.
The History section of the site includes a number of artifacts that were dug up during the clean-up process which began in 1986.
This wooden pipe from the '40's was buried 50 years before being dug up and was typical of wooden pipes used in the chemical industry at that time. Originally it had a black asphaltic coating and steel bands.
There are four cases of artifacts.
This is the closest you will be to uranium at the site. The "green salt", uranium tetrafluoride, was produced and then made into pure uranium metal.
A 12-minute video explains the history of the site.
This is a tribute to the Mallinckrodt uranium workers. During World War II, Mallinckrodt purified the uranium for the making of the Atomic Bomb. In 1957 Mallinckrodt moved their uranium projects to the Weldon Spring site from the City of St. Louis site.
By 1986, the federal government realized that there was a serious problem in Weldon Springs due to contaminants left from the factories.
The clean-up solution included the building of a 45-acre disposal cell on the site of the factories.
The limestone quarry on site was very contaminated as it had been used as a dumping site. Cleaning up the quarry was the first step due to concerns about the contamination leaking into the St. Charles County water supply.
Not only was the water contaminated but barrels and other items had been dumped around the quarry.
There are several displays explaining the different steps in the cleanup.
The clean base layers were put on the ground and consist of compacted clay (30 ft. to 3 ft.), a liner, gravel, sand, and the geochemical barrier.
These samples of the synthetic layers are on display.
After all of the contaminated construction materials, sludge, soil, etc. were placed in the cell, six more layers were put on top including the same first four put on the bottom. A huge wall mural shows what a cut-out of the cell would look like.
This displays explains the existence of radiation in our lives and some positive uses as well as other fundamental information about radiation.
This display is a tribute to renewable energy sources.
It includes an interactive activity.
Their "classroom" included an historical floor map showing the 17,332 acres that were originally acquired in 1940. The map is 14 feet wide.
The sedimentary mural teaches about soil layers.
Students and adults interested in geology can learn much at this display.
Free informational packets for teachers and others are displayed near the front door.
Birds and butterflies are drawn to the plants and we were fortunate to see some flowers in bloom on May 5.
We also visited the site of one of the many wells that monitor the ground water by testing for radiation.
No visit to Weldon Springs is complete without time spent on the disposal cell.
The stairs on the left in the picture above take you up the 75 feet to the top.
From the top you can see St. Charles County and beyond. It is a beautiful view.
There are four informational plaques as well as benches for resting and viewing.
A cranberry-citrus turkey sandwich with side salad.
And a gourmet grilled cheese with gruyere, brie, fresh mozzarella, basil pesto and tomatoes on griddled sour dough.
Comments: This was a very interesting museum on a very different subject. Although we categorized this museum as a science museum it is in many ways also a history museum. We had all lived in the area while the cleanup was in process but knew so little about it. We found the center fascinating and very informative. Two in our group plan to definitely return with their husbands.
Our trip there was greatly enhanced, also, by the private tour given by Kevin McCarthy. He was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and spent more than 1.5 hours with us. I had called ahead of time and was highly encouraged to schedule a tour with a guide. I definitely recommend that to anyone who goes to this museum. The tour can be tailored to the amount of time you have to spend at the site.
Also, I recommend that you check on the schedule of field trips. With their current facilities students eat lunch among the exhibits and I was glad that we planned to be out of there before that happened. The site averages about 24,000 visitors a year and I imagine a lot of them are school children. On a Friday morning we were the only ones there not associated with the school field trip.
I highly recommend climbing to the top of the cell, if able. It has a beautiful view and is a experience you can have no other place in our country. There is a one-mile walk around the base which we did not take. There is also on site the trailhead to the 8-mile Hamburg Trail which takes you to the Katy Trail.
Chandler Hill Vineyards is one of several wineries in the region. Its outdoor seating was very inviting but we were there on a very windy day and chose to eat inside. The luncheon menu was very good. And the food and service were excellent. http://www.chandlerhillvineyards.com/
