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After months of controversy regarding the smelly Bridgeton landfill -- with heated debates about the cause of the awful stench and the potential health hazards -- the Missouri attorney general's office and the company behind the site have hammered out an agreement.

Republic Services, parent company of the landfill, and Attorney General Chris Koster, who sued, unveiled a legal agreement yesterday, which includes details on relocation opportunities, a timeline on efforts to reduce the stench and funding plans for ongoing monitoring of air quality.

Environmental activists, however, say the plans don't go far enough to protect local residents in the coming weeks -- in part, because some in the surrounding areas may have to deal with an increasingly putrid odor.

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via KTVI

Meters of the future!

Starting today, St. Louis will offer limited parking meters that accept credit cards as part of a pilot program to explore a potential overhaul of meters throughout the city.

That means that in certain select locations, you can park in a metered spot...without quarters. Hooray!

"We realized that St. Louis was behind the curve a little bit," Treasurer Tishaura Jones tells Daily RFT.

Where can you find these special meters?

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Worker at the landfill.

The folks behind the smelly Bridgeton landfill are moving forward with a project that they say, in the long run, should make the site a lot less smelly. In the interim, however, it's going to get worse -- potentially a lot worse.

Which is why Republic Services, parent company of Bridgeton Landfill LLC, is offering residents who live within a one-mile radius of the landfill free, alternative housing over the next month or so in hotels.

Why is it getting smellier? The company has planned "intensive work" that requires excavating small sections of the landfill to remove concrete pipe sections. "As a result, this work may increase the odor for local businesses and residents," Republic says. Now, at least, some may be able to escape the stench -- if they choose to relocate.

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via stlouis-mo.gov

Cupples 7.

Unless a developer steps up, the historic Cupples 7 building in downtown St. Louis will soon be demolished.

And even if developers do emerge, they would need to have a solid plan to stabilize the site immediately -- or else it will have to come down. So says the city, which doesn't own the site, but has determined that the structure has become a serious safety hazard.

Still, the mayor's office and local preservationists are still hoping that someone -- with funding and a plan -- comes forward.

"We will welcome them until the wrecking ball swings," Maggie Crane, spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay, tells Daily RFT.

Will anyone be able to stop the demolition?

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Last week, 114 barges in St. Louis broke free into the Mississippi River -- 11 of which sank. At about the same time, local officials were also dealing with a treatment plant failure that resulted in untreated sewage flowing into the river at a high rate.

Now, there has been an oil spill.

Late last night, the Coast Guard says, approximately 300 gallons of crude oil were unloaded into the river after a vessel struck a fleeting area near Alton, Illinois -- causing fourteen barges to break away.

"We have found no environmental impact, but we will continue to monitor the situation and conduct harbor patrols," Lt. Colin Fogarty of the U.S. Coast Guard tells Daily RFT.

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As cycling advocates in St. Louis push to revive the Penrose Park velodrome, a new report says that Missouri on the whole is not a great place for cyclists -- in large part because the state lacks key bike-friendly policies and funding opportunities.

Missouri's score as 30th in the nation is the state's lowest ever from the League of American Bicyclists.

"It's disappointing," Brent Hugh, executive director of Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, tells Daily RFT. "But honestly, 30th is probably about right. We are not anything close to the top ten states."

What could Missouri do to boost its score?

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Photo: Jennifer Silverberg

Ballpark scraps find a second life as lawn food. Who knew?

Don't feel too guilty about not finishing your nachos at Busch Stadium. Chances are the leftover chips (and other half-eaten scraps) will make their way to St. Louis Composting for use as lawn and garden food.

A similar second chance exists for unsold food at the ballpark. It is donated to Operation Food Search to provide meals for the poor and hungry. In fact, since joining the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge in 2010, the Cardinals have donated more that 27 tons of unused food to Operation Food Search.

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Vapor trail: Nozzles like this one are slowly vanishing in St. Louis.

They've been around for well over a decade, but now the accordian-like bibs on gas nozzles at metro St. Louis gas stations are headed toward extinction.

Last year the EPA determined that the vapor-trapping nozzles are no longer needed because most cars on the road these days come equipped with devices that stop petroleum vapors from escaping the gas tank. Also, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has determined that removing the vapor nozzles will have no negative impact on air quality.

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Worker at Bridgeton landfill.

As we've reported, there's a landfill in Bridgeton that smells really, really terrible -- and while the officials responsible say they are doing everything they can to make it less stinky, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is not pleased.

He recently announced that he'll be suing the company that operates the landfill and now he is doubling down on his attacks, with a formal request for court dates in the lawsuit -- even as the state and the company attempt to reach an agreement.

He's requested a preliminary injunction hearing -- and the Circuit Court of St. Louis County could hear arguments next month about the company's alleged environmental violations.

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Treatment plants.

Since a failure at a Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District treatment plant Sunday night, millions of gallons of sewage have continued to flow into the Mississippi River. As officials work to secure backup pumps this week -- and as the high water levels remain -- the problem persists.

Is our drinking water at risk?

"I'm certainly not trying to justify this.... It's not in any way, shape or form OK," spokesman Lance LeComb tells Daily RFT, "but when you look at it, it's all really very diluted."

What went wrong -- and why is the sewage still flowing into the river three days later?

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