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Army Corps of Engineers Holding Town Hall on Radiation Findings at Jana School
Army Corps of Engineers Holding Town
Hall on Radiation Findings at Jana School
New information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding their testing at Jana Elementary was scheduled to be heard Tuesday night (Nov. 15) at the Hazelwood School Board meeting. (Prior to The Independent News print deadline.)
USACE will also hold a public town hall on Thursday Nov. 17 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Florissant Municipal Court at 4575 Washington Street.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) last week reported that it found no evidence of dangerous radiation levels at Jana Elementary School, that has been shut down after an independent study showed problems.
Jana Elementary School in Florissant and part of the Hazelwood School District sits in the floodplain of contaminated Coldwater Creek. An independent study done over the summer said it found harmful radiation levels on the campus grounds.
Jana students have been attending school virtually since last month and will be sent to three other Hazelwood District schools after Thanksgiving. The Army Corps told the Hazelwood school board and residents on Nov. 9 that they found different results about radiation levels.
“From a radiological standpoint, the school is safe,” said Col. Kevin Golinghorst, St. Louis District commander of the Army Corps said
last week. “We owe it to the public and the parents and children of Jana Elementary School to make informed decisions focused on the safety of the community.” He added that
Corps will continue to take effective actions using accurate data.
However, many residents attending the previous school board meeting were still skeptical about the Corps initial information. “The Army Corps of Engineers came and presented at our school board meeting,” Ashley Bernaugh, the school’s PTA president, said . “The information they provided is absolutely in direct contradiction to their most earliest sampling data at Jana Elementary that starts in 2018 and continues to 2021.”
USACE conducted structure surveys inside and around the exterior of the school building and took soil samples from 53 different locations on the school grounds. Analysis of the outdoor soil sample testing is still pending, according to the USACE. A Department of Energy peer review of the USACE preliminary results is expected within two to three weeks, and after the data is validated and peer-reviewed, then it will be released to the school board.
“We will continue to advocate for the best interest of our Jana community, and that means protecting our kids, protecting our staff and protecting our community,” PTA president Ashley Bernaugh said.
Boston Chemical Data Corp took samples in August from the school’s library, kitchen, classrooms, fields and playgrounds. The report said that they found radioactive contamination at the school at much higher levels than were expected.
Coldwater Creek has long been a concern because Uranium used for atomic weapons was processed in St. Louis and radioactive waste was dumped in piles near Lambert St. Louis International Airport decades ago. Wind and rain swept some debris into nearby Coldwater Creek, which spread waste during floods, more frequent the past few decades.
