The digital humanities project The History of Toxic Waste in St. Louis presents a chronological account of radioactive contamination across the St. Louis region, from its earliest slide, from 1942 during World War II to 2023 present time. Although the creator of the timeline is unknown, the project draws heavily on reporting from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, NPR, the EPA, and environmental advocacy organizations such as the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. The goal of the project is to document how nuclear weapons production during World War II led to decades of environmental contamination and to highlight the long-term impact on surrounding communities. By organizing these events chronologically, the timeline emphasizes how government decisions, corporate actions, and delayed remediation efforts contributed to ongoing health and environmental concerns.
The intended audience appears to be residents of the St. Louis region, students, and anyone interested in environmental justice. The project ultimately demonstrates that radioactive waste was repeatedly moved, buried, or inadequately contained, often with officials downplaying risks. From the contamination of Coldwater Creek to the closure of Jana Elementary School in 2022, the timeline suggests a pattern of insufficient oversight and delayed accountability. It also demonstrates how difficult the nuclear waste is to properly contain/get rid of.
Technologically, the project was created using TimelineJS, an open-source digital storytelling tool developed by the Northwestern University Knight Lab. TimelineJS allows creators to input dates, text, and media into a Google Sheet, which is then rendered into an interactive, scrollable timeline using embedded code. This method makes complex historical information accessible and visually engaging. I liked the use of TimelineJS for this project because it keeps it simple yet effective in displaying relevant imagery, dates, and information on each slide.
One major strength of the project is its clarity. Seeing events unfold chronologically makes the long-term consequences more powerful and easier to understand. A weakness, however, is that the slides are brief and sometimes repetitive, which can limit deeper analysis. I personally knew that this was happening in St. Louis because I researched it after seeing it on the news when there were underground fires from the nuclear waste. Overall, the project adds important nuance to our understanding of the St. Louis region. It reinforces how deeply World War II-era decisions still affect local communities today and highlights environmental issues that many residents may not fully realize are still ongoing.