Metro East residents also push for federal radioactive waste exposure compensation

Along the border of Venice and Madison in the Metro East, a 1.4 million-square-foot factory and a former 40-acre dump site sit next to several blocks of homes.

From the late 1950s to early '60s, the factory — owned by Dow Chemical Co. at the time — performed work with uranium and thorium that was used in the nation’s nuclear weapons program. It also used thorium for commercial purposes for most of its history.