Missouri regulators are ordering the owner of the smoldering Bridgeton Landfill to add more safeguards and develop a backup plan to prevent the spread of an underground fire past existing defenses.
Temperatures have gradually increased over several months near a line of equipment meant to control the fire’s spread, according to a letter from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR also said that in June, it observed three “outbreaks” of contaminated landfill liquid in the north end of the landfill, known as the north quarry.