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What will it take and how long? How many do-overs will this Council need to correct previous mistakes?

“The Coldwater Creek watershed is just one of many contaminated watersheds,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “There are people who live in historically Black communities where 80% or more either got cancer or died from radioactive waste-related cancers." Hundreds of thousands of St. Louis County residents may now qualify for tax-free federal payments worth up to $50,000, but many are not applying, some saying they don’t trust the program or the people promoting it.

“By the 1950s, those water sources were black as a lagoon,” wrote former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal in a 2016 commentary for The St. Louis American. Chappelle-Nadal continues to attend meetings with Hubbard, Robertson residents and others who lived near toxic landfills across Missouri.

The gathering was one of a series of RECA assistance meetings organized by former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who has worked for years with advocates pushing for compensation and cleanup tied to radioactive waste dumped in North St. Louis County.

She said skepticism remains one of the largest barriers.

“People still ask if this is real money,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “They’ve lived with broken trust for decades.”

Over the years, the St. Louis County Council has had numerous opportunities to curb reckless spending through the budgeting process. Instead, they have chosen to spend taxpayer dollars as if the county has unlimited resources. The result of this disjointed approach to governing now falls directly on the pocketbooks of every St. Louis County resident. ("St. Louis County Council advances bill to put tax before voters," March 11.)

"Others including Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat running for the 1st District seat on the county council, and Republican county executive candidate Dennis Hancock offer their opinion when out knocking doors.

Chappelle-Nadal said she objects to having an additional tax when the cost of everything is going up."

In addition to the environment, Chappelle-Nadal said she would be focused on affordability if she were elected. She would have voted against a proposed tax on online sales.

“Regardless of what tax bracket you're in, every single family, every single door that I knock on, someone is experiencing really hard financial times, and are having to make changes,” she said, adding that she knows of many residents who rely on Amazon or other delivery services for medications.