Florescent, Mr. —According to a new report from Environmental Investigation Advisors, there is significant radioactive contamination at an elementary school in suburban St. Louis, where nuclear weapons were produced during World War II.
The Boston Chemical Data Corp. report confirmed fears about contamination at the Hazlewood School District’s Mass Elementary School in Florescent, raised by a previous Army Corps of Engineers study.
The new report is based on samples taken from the school in August. according To St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boston Chemical did not say who or what requested and funded the report.
“I was heartbroken,” said Ashley Burnaugh, president of the mass parent-teacher union, who has a son at school. “It sounds so cliche, but it takes your breath away from you.”
The school sits on the floodplain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated with nuclear waste from weapons production during World War II. The waste was dumped at sites next to the creek that flows into the Missouri River, near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Vahini has been cleaning drains for more than 20 years.
The Corps report also found contamination in the area, but at a lower level, and it did not take any samples within 300 feet of the school. The most recent report included samples taken from Jana’s library, kitchen, classrooms, fields and playgrounds.
Levels of the radioactive isotope lead-210, polonium, radium and other toxins were “much higher” than Boston Chemical had expected. Dust samples taken inside the school were found to be contaminated.
The report said that inhaling or ingesting these radioactive substances could result in serious injury.
“A significant remedial program will be needed to bring the conditions into the school as expected,” the report said.
The new report is expected to be a major topic at the Hazlewood School Board meeting on Tuesday. The district said in a statement that it would consult its lawyers and experts to determine next steps.
“Safety for our staff and students as a whole is our top priority,” Board Chairman Betsy Rachel said Saturday.
Kristen Cumuso with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment presented the results of the core’s study to the school board in June after receiving a copy through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“I don’t want my kid in this school,” she said. “The effects of these toxins are cumulative.”