FLORISSANT, Mo. — A report by environmental consultants found significant amounts of radioactive contamination at an elementary school.
The report, which was done by Boston Chemical Data Corp., found levels of the radioactive isotope lead-210, polonium, radium and other toxins “far in excess” of what was expected, The Associated Press reported. The samples tested were taken from the library, kitchen, classrooms, fields and playgrounds at Jana Elementary School.
The school sits in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated by nuclear waste from bombs manufactured during World War II.
The Army Corps of Engineers had previously conducted a study at Jana Elementary School, which found contamination but at much lower levels, the AP reported.
The new report calls the Army Corps’ testing incomplete and inadequate, citing that samples were not taken from inside the school buildings or the soil immediately surrounding the buildings, KMOV reported.
“My level of concern is almost at a peak level. Its everything we thought and were concerned could be true,” Ashley Bernaugh, president of the Jana parent-teacher association, told KMOV. “The Army Corps of Engineers absolutely found some of this same material. They found thorium, radium, and uranium. We asked the Army Corps of Engineers to go inside our school building. To go on the school playground and they refused.”
The Hazelwood School Board intends to discuss the new report in a closed session on Tuesday, board president Betsy Rachel told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In a statement to the newspaper, the district said the board would consult with attorneys and experts “to determine next steps.”
“We hope they will take these results very seriously,” Bernaugh told KMOV. “We don’t necessarily need further confirmation from the Army Corps of Engineers at this point. We need the Army Corps of Engineers to come clean up the mess.”
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