FLORISSANT, Mo. — It's news one would be eager to hear: "There's no harm to students at your school when it comes to radioactive contamination."
However, when this contradicts another recent report, it creates confusion and even more concerns.
This is the case for Jana Elementary in Florissant, Missouri.
On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its own findings saying Jana Elementary was safe.
This is after an independent group called the Boston Chemical Data Corporation released a report in October, saying it found high levels of radioactive contamination within and around the school.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers results
After two weeks of testing, the agency shared preliminary results showing no presence of radioactive material above the expected range of background levels(the level of radioactivity Mother Nature already provides).
The results showed nearly 1,000 samples, readings, and swipes were done and isotopic uranium, thorium, radium, and lead (Pb)-210 were tested.
In front of the Hazelwood School Board were the members of the environmental program, called Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, or better known as FUSRAP.
This is a program within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This group is now required to clean up sites contaminated by radioactive waste materials associated with the Manhattan project in the 1940s and 1950s.
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, located north of downtown St. Louis, processed a majority of the uranium for the building of the first atomic bomb.
The waste from Mallinckrodt was transported and stored at a site north of St. Louis Lambert International Airport from 1947 until the late 1960s.
It was then purchased by Continental Mining and Milling Company and moved to a site half a mile away.
Background
The atomic bomb material was not stored in a protective manner and this resulted in the washing of radioactive waste into nearby Coldwater Creek, contaminating multiple areas including North St. Louis County.
And now, all these years later, the cleanup is still happening and hundreds of families have been and will be impacted.
A class-action lawsuit even was prompted in the last few years.
Hundreds of clients are claiming they are facing health risks from Coldwater Creek.
Environmental lawyers Celeste Brustowicz with Cooper Law Firm and Kevin Thompson with Thompson Barney Law Firm paid the Boston Chemical Data Corporation to test the area, including Jana Elementary.
Their findings were released in October and it reported high levels of radioactive contamination in and around Jana.
It showed high numbers of different contaminated elements, including (Pb)- 210, which is lead.
Concerns
These two reports show a striking contrast.
That's why on Wednesday morning, the new information from the federal agency faced some push back.
Board President Betsy Rachel said, "I'm a little concerned and why there are no numbers being presented here."
Another board member, Sylvester Taylor, asked the FUSRAP group multiple times for numbers.
He asked the U.S. the Army Corps of Engineers why it released its preliminary findings without giving any data.
"When we got this first report, they gave us numbers. I know your findings are complete. You gave us this report, but you didn't bring us one number, you didn't bring us nothing. If you want us to bite into what you’re saying, why not bring us the data?" Taylor inquired.
He also said he would've been okay to wait for the final results in order to get solid numbers.
"We're hurting, our school is hurting. People are hurting and screaming for help," he said.
Taylor voiced concerns about the lack of data because the board wasn't able to compare the two reports side-by-side.
"It's not comparing apples to apples," he pointed out.
5 On Your Side also asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about it.
Col. Kevin Golinghorst, the St. Louis District Commander at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said, "We don't want to bring incomplete or raw data. We want to make sure we have the proper time to put it together and do our own analysis."
Yet the man behind the independent report sampling at Boston Chemical Data Corporation, Dr. Marco Kaltofen, says more should be done.
"I do believe there is more work they can be doing, and should do and look at the radioactive isotopes that the US EPA says is important in this area," he adds.
He defends his group's findings and says, they've done additional testing of radioactive isotopes that the U.S. Army Corps pays less attention to.
"We sent some of our samples that could do microscopic analyses and work with these small samples," Kaltofen said. "They cost five times more than normal but what we found is the fingerprint of the radioactive material in these small dust samples was an exact match in the Mallinckrodt Corporation in their original waste."
He reaffirmed he would not feel safe if his child went to Jana until it was cleaned up.
Col. Kevin Golinghorst said he would send his child there but wouldn't let them play in Coldwater Creek.
Phil Moser, FUSRAP's St. Louis District program manager, told the board the amount of time it took to get these results was unprecedented.
"I want to highlight that we went above and beyond to get these results," Moser shared.
"I think the students and those who attended since the 1970s were worthy of you going above and beyond... we’re talking about an elementary school. I think it’s worthy of your extra effort. It should not have taken what it took to get the testing done, in my opinion, as a community member," Rachel said.
As both parties stand by their results, the Hazelwood School Board now grapples with varying reports.
But the school is also conducting its own independent report, awaiting for results in order to compare.
As for the Jana PTA along with its president, they continue to fight for more answers.
"We at Jana and this north St. Louis County community will not continue to stand by, we are the adults in the room and we are going to act like it one way or another," Ashley Bernaugh said.
There were no decisions made by the board on Wednesday and the school remains closed.
Dates:
- The US Army Corps of Engineers will be at the district's school board meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15th
- The US Army Corps of Engineers will host a public forum on Wednesday, Nov. 16th - location TBD
- Results won't be finalized until January
- Remediation to clean up the area needs to be done by December 2023