BRIDGETON, MO (KMOX) - A foul smell emanating from an underground landfill fire in Bridgeton is prompting the Missouri Coalition for the Environment to call on the state to run a series of air quality tests. The coalition’s executive director Kat Logan-Smith says residents are complaining of health effects but are not receiving any official information about what they are breathing.

“We’re hearing people say their pets are sick, they’re not feeling well. We’re concerned there’s something in the air from this landfill fire that could be very unhealthy,” she said.

“What needs to happen is they need to test the air. They need to know what’s in it and they need to issue recommendations because landfill fires across the country sometimes go on for decades.”

Logan-Smith says St. Louis County officials told her they do not have the equipment on-hand to do air testing, so she is calling on the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to run the tests.

The Bridgeton Sanitary Landfill is adjacent to the West Lake Landfill, where nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project is stored. Logan-Smith says that makes the underground fire a public safety risk.

KMOX is awaiting a call back from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.