FLORISSANT 鈥 Federal officials will start testing for radioactive contaminants at the shuttered Jana Elementary School next week, Rep. Cori Bush said Thursday.
Bush wrote a letter Thursday to the heads of the U.S. Department of Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers calling for additional testing and cleanup of the school, where an independent investigator found radioactive polonium, lead and radium 鈥渇ar in excess of the natural background鈥 in the library, kitchen, HVAC system, classrooms, fields and playgrounds.
鈥淒elays to clean up radioactive waste in our community are not only unconscionable but also potentially debilitating and deadly,鈥 Bush wrote in her letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The agencies responded to the letter with a commitment to further testing at the school starting next week. Preliminary results could be available in the coming weeks, Bush said during a virtual press conference.
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The school, which opened in 1970 at 405 Jana Drive, sits in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek. The creek was contaminated with radioactive waste starting in the 1940s from the storage of residue from atomic weapons production. A report from Boston Chemical Data Corp. showing toxins in the school was generated through an ongoing lawsuit and publicized last week.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday it would begin taking soil samples and doing structure surveys at Jana Elementary beginning Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 at Jana Elementary. Results of testing for radioactive contamination will be available within two weeks, the Corps said in a news release on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
The Army Corps, which is charged with cleanup of the creek, has not corroborated the findings of the report.
The Hazelwood School Board voted Tuesday to move Jana students and staff to virtual learning until mid-November, when they will be assigned to different schools in the district.
Sen. Josh Hawley also wrote a letter this week calling on President Joe Biden to declare a federal emergency for an immediate cleanup of the school and surrounding areas.
Editor鈥檚 note: Construction on Jana Elementary was completed in 1970. An addition was completed in 1972. An earlier version of this story had the wrong opening year.
