In this article from People magazine, Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel share their story of starting Just Moms, STL, a grassroots advocacy group that advocates for cleanup and compensation for community members near the Westlake and Bridgeton landfills, as well as other St. Louis nuclear sites. Chapman and Nickel have led an effort to have their impacted communities included in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
Westlake and Bridgeton Landfills: Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel
“Chapman and Nickel have mobilized thousands through Just Moms to call attention to what they insist is a crisis…. ‘I think the kindest, and meanest, thing anybody’s ever said about us is we’re lovable pains in the ass,’ Chapman says. At the same time, they say, ‘dozens; of their volunteers have died of cancer or have lost children. ‘If I die tomorrow, Karen’s going to run as hard as she can at it,’ Chapman says, ‘and vice versa.’ Often people ask Chapman and Nickel why they don’t simply leave. Their homes have lost value because of the surroundings, they say. But, says Nickel, it’s more than that: ‘This is our community. We stick together. And if we were to move away, who would fight this fight?’”
Learn More About Sites Near You
Nuclear weapons impacts exist in all 50 US states.
See how they touch communities near you.
