If you or a relative lived near Coldwater Creek in North St. Louis County and later developed cancer, a Coldwater Creek lawsuit is one of two paths that have been used to seek compensation, and the more accessible path today is a federal claim rather than a civil suit. The mass tort against Mallinckrodt and Cotter Corporation settled in 2019, individual suits filed since then have run into a difficult causation barrier, and Congress expanded the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) in July 2025 to cover 21 Missouri zip codes. RECA claims must be filed with the U.S. Department of Justice by December 31, 2027.1U.S. Department of Justice. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
The McClurg Mass Tort Settlement
Starting in 2012, hundreds of residents filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging that decades of mishandled Manhattan Project waste at the St. Louis Airport Site and the Latty Avenue storage site in Hazelwood caused their cancers. The cases were consolidated for pretrial proceedings under McClurg et al. v. Mallinckrodt, LLC, et al. (No. 4:12-CV-00361-AGF), before Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. Plaintiffs brought their claims under the Price-Anderson Act, the federal statute governing liability for nuclear incidents, and named Mallinckrodt LLC and Cotter Corporation as the primary defendants.2GovInfo. Butler v. Mallinckrodt LLC, No. 4:18-cv-01703
Mallinckrodt and Cotter signed Master Settlement Agreements with the plaintiffs on September 12, 2018, amended in April 2019. The district court approved the settlements on December 30, 2019, finding them “fair and reasonable compensation” for the wrongful death claims involved. Individual payment amounts were not made public. Cotter later sought $14.96 million from the federal government to cover its defense and settlement costs.3U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Cotter Corp. v. United States, No. 23-1826
The McClurg settlement is closed. It does not offer a route for people who did not join that case.
Why Individual Suits Have Struggled: The Butler Cases
Four plaintiffs who filed separately in October 2018 — Pamela Butler, Kenneth Koterba, Anthony Hines, and Emery David Walick III — show how hard it is to bring a fresh Coldwater Creek suit. Their cases were originally consolidated with McClurg but were severed because they were not part of the settlement talks and were subject to a bankruptcy stay.
In March 2022, the court partially excluded the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses, ruling that their testimony on radiation dose and specific causation was not sufficiently reliable under the Daubert standard for scientific evidence. Without admissible experts tying each plaintiff’s cancer to their Coldwater Creek exposure, the case could not proceed. On September 30, 2022, the court granted summary judgment to Mallinckrodt and Cotter and dismissed the claims.2GovInfo. Butler v. Mallinckrodt LLC, No. 4:18-cv-01703
The takeaway for anyone considering a suit today: exposure alone is not enough. You need expert testimony that survives a Daubert challenge on both the radiation dose you received and the specific link between that dose and your diagnosis. That evidence is expensive and closely scrutinized.
The Mazzocchio Ruling and the Standard of Care
One recent decision does favor plaintiffs. In Mazzocchio v. Cotter Corp., Nikki Steiner Mazzocchio and Angela Steiner Kraus sued Cotter Corporation and Commonwealth Edison Company on theories of negligence, strict liability, civil conspiracy, and negligence per se under Missouri clean water law and federal radiation regulations.4U.S. Supreme Court. Cotter Corporation v. Mazzocchio, No. 24-1001 – Brief in Opposition
The defendants argued that federal nuclear dosage regulations should be the sole standard of care in Price-Anderson Act suits, which would have raised the bar for plaintiffs. The Eighth Circuit rejected that argument in October 2024, holding that Congress intended state law to govern the standard of care and citing the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. The court acknowledged that its ruling split with the Ninth Circuit.5FindLaw. Mazzocchio v. Cotter Corp., No. 23-3709
Cotter asked the Supreme Court to take the case. On May 18, 2026, the Court denied certiorari without comment, leaving the Eighth Circuit’s plaintiff-friendly rule in place for Coldwater Creek litigation.6Supreme Court of the United States. Docket No. 24-10017SCOTUSblog. Cotter Corporation v. Mazzocchio Missouri tort principles now supply the duty in these cases, but the causation problem from Butler is still there. Any suit still has to prove that your specific exposure caused your specific illness.
Filing a RECA Claim
For most people affected by Coldwater Creek, the expanded federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act is now the realistic path to compensation. It does not require proving in court that a specific company caused a specific cancer. It requires meeting the statutory eligibility rules and documenting them.
Who Qualifies
To qualify under the Manhattan Project waste portion of RECA, you must have been physically present in one of 21 designated Missouri zip codes across St. Louis, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County for at least two years after January 1, 1949, and you must have been diagnosed with one of 20 specified cancers. The list includes breast cancer, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, among others.1U.S. Department of Justice. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act8Missouri Independent. In the Sun, St. Louis Radioactive Waste Activists Find Hope in New Federal Law
What You Receive
A living claimant receives a one-time, tax-free payment of $50,000 or reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket medical expenses, whichever is greater. A surviving spouse or child of a deceased eligible person can receive $25,000.9U.S. Senator Josh Hawley. RECA
How to File
Claims go to the U.S. Department of Justice. You can file through the DOJ’s online portal or by mailing a completed Manhattan Project Waste Claim Form with supporting documentation, including proof of residence in a covered zip code and medical records showing a qualifying diagnosis. All claims must be filed by December 31, 2027.1U.S. Department of Justice. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
Fees for helping with a RECA application are capped by law at two percent. St. Louis County officials have warned residents to be wary of third parties charging more.10St. Louis Public Radio. St. Louis Apply Compensation Radiation Exposure
As of June 2026, the DOJ had approved more than $122 million in payouts under the expanded program.11St. Louis Public Radio. Missouri RECA Radiation Parent Denials
Limits and Denials You Should Know About
RECA does not cover every situation people assume it does. The DOJ does not allow parents to file claims on behalf of a deceased child. Childhood leukemia claims are not being approved because current DOJ policy requires initial exposure to have occurred after age 20, with the disease appearing at least two years later.11St. Louis Public Radio. Missouri RECA Radiation Parent Denials
The zip code list is also finite. Congressman Wesley Bell has introduced the St. Louis RECA Readjustment Act (H.R. 4631) to add two North St. Louis zip codes, 63106 and 63107, that were left out of the current program.12U.S. Representative Wesley Bell. Bell Introduces St. Louis RECA Readjustment Act Unless and until that bill passes, residents outside the 21 listed zip codes are not eligible.
The Health Evidence Behind the Claims
The scientific record supporting these claims has grown substantially. A 2019 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry public health assessment concluded that radiological contamination along Coldwater Creek could have increased the risk of lung cancer, bone cancer, and leukemia in people who lived in the floodplain or played in the creek from the 1960s through the 1990s.13ATSDR. Public Health Assessment – St. Louis Airport Site and Coldwater Creek
A larger study published in JAMA Network Open in July 2025 examined 4,209 people who grew up near the creek between the 1940s and 1960s. Those who lived within one kilometer of the creek had an 85 percent higher risk of developing radiosensitive cancers, including thyroid cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, and basal cell skin cancer, than those who lived more than 20 kilometers away. Thyroid cancer risk was roughly five times higher for those closest to the creek. Risks were also elevated at one to five kilometers, consistent with a dose-response pattern.14JAMA Network Open. Cancer Incidence and Childhood Residence Near the Coldwater Creek Radioactive Waste Site
St. Louis County health data shows residents in the affected zip codes are 18 percent more likely to develop cancer overall, 44 percent more likely to develop lung cancer, 40 percent more likely to develop kidney cancer, and 35 percent more likely to develop colon cancer than the general population.15Fox 2 Now. St. Louis County Issues Public Health Alert Over Coldwater Creek Radiation Exposure
Where the Cleanup Stands
Contamination has not been fully removed, and that matters for people currently living near the creek. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has managed remediation since 1997 under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), based on a 2005 Record of Decision that calls for excavating contaminated soil.16EPA. SLAPS 21-Day EPA Administrator Request The contaminated area spans roughly 2,000 acres along 13.8 miles of the creek, from the airport site to the Missouri River.17U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. North County Status Maps Full transfer to the Department of Energy’s legacy management program is not expected until 2038.
The contamination reaches beyond the creek banks. In February 2026, the Army Corps announced it would demolish six homes on Cades Cove Drive in Florissant after finding radioactive soil beneath the foundations. Owners were bought out, and demolition began on February 9, 2026, with soil excavation expected to take about a year. It was the first time the Corps’ atomic energy waste program had required relocating residents to reach contaminated soil.18St. Louis Public Radio. Army Corps Demolish Homes Coldwater Creek Florissant Radioactive Contamination If you own property in the floodplain, the Army Corps’ sampling program is the mechanism for finding out whether your land is affected.
Getting Help With a Claim
Just Moms STL, founded in 2013 by Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel, spent years pressing for the RECA expansion and now runs a resource site and community events to help residents file. After the expansion passed in July 2025, the group launched a dedicated website walking claimants through the application.19Just Moms STL. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Between the two-percent fee cap and free community assistance, you should not need to pay a large sum to file. The filing window closes December 31, 2027, so gathering proof of residence and medical records early is the practical next step.