ST. LOUIS—U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, in St. Louis Tuesday to celebrate a $197 million department grant that will get a battery materials manufacturing plant up and running by 2025, also spoke of a need for transparency and “a sense of urgency” in addressing the impact of the Manhattan Project-era nuclear weapons manufacturing on the St. Louis region. 

Granholm said pending legislation that would allow residents in nearly two dozen St. Louis-area ZIP codes who have suffered medical conditions connected to exposure to radiation “worth looking at.”

The stated purposes for the Secretary’s visit to the region was a groundbreaking event for ICL, a specialty minerals company that announced last year it would build a $400 million battery materials manufacturing plant on the campus of its existing facility in the Carondelet neighborhood. The plant will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material, used in the lithium battery industry.

The Biden administration has set a goal of having electric vehicles count for half of all new cars sold by 2030.

“If we can figure out how to crack the code to reduce the costs of those critical materials, maybe by using some more abundant materials, like iron for example, then we can really bring down the price of electric vehicles and have more people driving them,” Granholm said.

ICL competed for a $197 million grant from the Department of Energy through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, for the project. Granholm and other Biden administration cabinet officials are barnstorming the country, touting benefits from the legislation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in the Metro East last week, announcing nearly $28 million in funding for Metrolink.

“It is great to be here, on the heels of Secretary Buttigieg, hope Missouri’s feelin’ the love,” Granholm told a VIP audience ahead of the groundbreaking.  

The trips have an obvious political subtext heading into the 2024 political cycle as Biden officials travel around the country, often to states and districts led by Republicans, talking about legislation passed by the then-Democratic party majorities in the House and Senate. 

All of Missouri’s GOP delegation in Congress voted against the 2021 infrastructure bill as did U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, who supported the legislation but wanted votes on other parts of the “Build Back Better” agenda first.

If Granholm was quick to tout the Biden agenda Tuesday, there was no overt political brinksmanship on display as she shared the event with Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who like others in the GOP, has criticized various administration policies and spending. 

“It’s going to be huge for the country and the state, so however we get there you got to be part of it,” Parson said of the state’s role in supporting green energy. “We know that that industry is starting to go in that direction so we want to be part of that and we want to have the opportunity….Those are things we’ve got to be able to take advantage of so when we can partner with the federal government that creates jobs and creates businesses it’s a win-win for our state.”

Granholm’s visit to the area comes less than a month since U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley R-Mo. invited her specifically to come to sites in the St. Louis region impacted by nuclear radiation and contamination stemming from the atomic weapons race.

Last month, news reports detailed thousands of pages of documents dating back to the 1940s shedding new light on what the federal government and its contractors knew about the dangers tied to disposing of the materials used to build nuclear weapons.

Hawley and Bush have both criticized the government’s response to cleanup in the area of Coldwater Creek in north St. Louis County and the impact reports of contamination have had on Jana Elementary School, which has been closed since last fall and is not expected to reopen.

“We have to clean up these sites and there’s no doubt that testing and remediation is ongoing,“ Granholm said. “We’ve got to make sure that people feel safe, and that’s why transparency, a sense of urgency, and working with the community so they understand the testing that’s being done and the remediation that’s being done,” she said.

The National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate last month and must now be reconciled with the version which passed the House, includes a Hawley provision that would make residents in 20 St. Louis area zip codes who contracted specific health conditions tied to radiation eligible for payments of medical bills and survivor benefits. 

Granholm said it was worth exploring but made no administration commitment of support. 

“I can’t speak for the administration on that particular piece because I just don’t know the answer but it’s certainly something worth looking at for sure to bring justice to families that have been affected.”

After the groundbreaking event, Spectrum News confirmed Granholm went to the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center in St. Charles County, a former uranium factory site that features a containment cell holding disposed radioactive debris, where she was given a private tour and met with Bush.

Bush met Monday night with community activists and state lawmakers who either grew up in or currently live in impacted areas, who were not included in her meeting with Granholm.

“I am grateful for our community leaders and advocates for coming together last night to share feedback and solutions on how we clean up the radioactive waste in our community, and I appreciate Secretary Granholm taking the time to meet with me to hear our concerns and requests laid out by the community," Bush said in a statement Tuesday night. "This conversation marks an inflection point in a positive partnership, and I believe that, together, we will work with the community to ensure the federal government cleans up its waste, restores trust, and ensures our neighborhoods are safer and healthier.”

State Rep. Tricia Byrnes, R-Wentzville, was among those who met with Bush Monday and has raised concerns over potential contamination of drinking water sources near the Weldon Spring site, which itself is under permanent monitoring. Byrnes has asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a comprehensive list of contaminants that should be tested for in the area, along with financial support for the testing.

Byrnes told Spectrum News that she has a meeting with the EPA on the issue Wednesday.