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MISSOURI - Conflicting reports on Jana Elementary radioactive contamination

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  • MISSOURI - Conflicting reports on Jana Elementary radioactive contamination

    Posted: Nov 15, 2022 / 10:03 PM CST
    Updated: Nov 16, 2022 / 02:41 PM CST

    by: Ala Errebhi, Laura Simon

    FLORISSANT, Mo. – Big questions remain after differing reports of possible radioactive contamination at Jana Elementary School.

    At Tuesday’s meeting of the Hazelwood School Board, district officials heard from the private company that reported high levels of contamination just weeks ago. That was followed by a bombshell report from a third party saying its analysis shows Jana is as “radiologically safe” as any other school.

    The meeting comes a week after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considered the school safe from radioactive contamination. But a week prior to that, a Boston Chemical Data Corp. report showed elevated levels of contamination at Jana.

    A representative from Boston Chemical Data went before the school board to give numbers and background information about how they test. A representative from the Environmental Protection Agency was also present.

    The Boston Chemical rep said they found Pb-210, a radioactive isotope of lead, and dangerous thorium particles in nearby Coldwater Creek. They also found Pb-210 on Jana school grounds.

    Their findings differ from those of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who deemed the school safe.

    The Boston Chemical Data report found radioactive contamination at the school at much higher levels than expected. In one case, 22 times above normal levels.

    Dr. Marco Keltofen, who performed the sampling and wrote the Boston Chemical Data report, said they found more than 400 potentially active microparticles.

    “Unfortunately, five of the seven worst or highest results that we got for radioactivity from these microparticles came from either the Jana School itself or from the neighborhood around the Jana School,” he said.

    Keltofen added that his group tested for many more radioactive isotopes than the Corps did, and that was where the elevated radioactive contamination was discovered. The Corps of Engineers told school district leaders that testing found no radioactive contamination beyond what occurs naturally in the environment. ...




  • #2
    Feds to conduct further testing for radioactive contamination in Missouri school

    Oct 20, 2022 8:17 PM EST
    By — Jim Salter, Associated Press

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct new testing at a Missouri grade school to learn more about the level of radioactive contamination in the school and on its playground, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush said Thursday.

    Bush was among several local, state and federal lawmakers who urged the federal government to take immediate action to remediate Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri, after private testing found high levels of contamination.

    “We’ve been applying pressure,” Bush said. “We will continue to do so.”

    ... Jana Elementary sits near Coldwater Creek, a 19-mile-long waterway contaminated decades ago with Manhattan Project atomic waste. A 2019 federal report determined that those exposed to the creek from the 1960s to the 1990s may have an increased risk of bone cancer, lung cancer and leukemia. Environmentalists and area residents have cited several instances of extremely rare cancers that have sickened and killed people.

    The Corps of Engineers has found contamination in a wooded area near the school, but hasn’t previously tested the school or its grounds. This summer, lawyers involved in a class-action lawsuit representing local residents seeking compensation for illnesses and deaths received permission from the Hazelwood School District to perform testing.

    A report released earlier this month by Boston Chemical Data Corp. cited levels of radioactive isotope lead-210 that were 22 times the expected level on the kindergarten playground. It also found high levels of polonium, radium and other material inside the school. ...

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct new testing at a Missouri grade school to learn more about the level of radioactive contamination in the school and on its playground.




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    • #3
      Jana Elementary parent afraid her kids’ illnesses are due to nuclear waste at school; teachers moving out of classrooms

      Published: Oct. 21, 2022 at 5:35 AM UTC
      By Melanie Johnson

      FLORISSANT, Mo. (KMOV) - Teachers at Jana Elementary were seen cleaning out their classrooms, packing their things and leaving the school on Thursday.

      The school is now closed due to radioactive waste concerns. ...

      A letter was sent to parents a day later, asking families to pick up Chromebooks in preparation for remote instruction. ...

      Teachers at Jana Elementary were seen cleaning out their classrooms, packing their things and leaving the school on Thursday. The school is now closed due to radioactive waste concerns.




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