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Mallinckrodt Statement on 1940s-1950s U.S. Government Contract Work

Recent reports on environmental contamination involving radioactive materials in north St. Louis County have referenced Mallinckrodt and Mallinckrodt Chemical Works. These reports include inaccuracies and have repeated allegations that are not supported by the facts. The following is a brief factual background.

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Government approached Mallinckrodt Chemical Works to refine uranium ore as part of America’s nuclear program, and Mallinckrodt did so. Mallinckrodt’s work on this government program ended in the 1960s. At all times, the company worked under the direction of the U.S. Government, as did other contractors, and at no time did Mallinckrodt own any uranium or its byproducts. The Mallinckrodt Chemical Works successor is Mallinckrodt LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the parent company.

The U.S. Government owned all the raw materials, in-process product, byproducts and residues and determined site locations where work was performed. Further, for decades, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been responsible for and are handling all clean-up efforts on these sites.

The work and residue storage site locations chosen by the U.S. Government included the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works St. Louis Downtown Site and a U.S. Government-owned site at the St. Louis Airport Site. This site was acquired by the U.S. Government in 1947 for storage of residue. The residue was the property of the U.S. Government.

It is important to note that Mallinckrodt has never had involvement with the West Lake Landfill. The U.S. Government sold the residue to a private third party that moved it from the airport location to Latty Avenue and later shipped most of the residue to other locations for recovery. In 1973, the remaining material at the Latty Avenue site was disposed of at the West Lake Landfill by that third party, according to reports.

The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are and have been handling all environmental remediation efforts at the St. Louis Airport Site and other North St. Louis County sites, including Coldwater Creek, under its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).

October 14, 2015