The report was completed by Boston Chemical Data Corp., an environmental investigations firm, in October. Samples of soil, dust and plant materials at the Jana Elementary School in the town of Florissant were collected in August for testing. Samples were taken from the fields and playgrounds around the school, as well as locations inside, including the library, kitchen, and classrooms, Business Insider reported.
"I was heartbroken," President of the Jana Parent-Teacher Association Ashley Bernaugh, whose son attends the school, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after reading the report. "It sounds so cliché, but it takes your breath from you."
It's unclear who funded the investigation, but it followed a prior Army Corps of Engineers study started in 2018 that raised concerns about contamination at the school. The results of the Corps study were obtained earlier this year by the nonprofit Missouri Coalition for the Environment via a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Corps, which is tasked with cleaning up sites from the early atomic weapons program, found significantly less contamination than the recent report. However, they did not take samples from within 300 feet of the school or inside it.
Boston Chemical's investigation found several types of radioactive contamination were present at levels that far exceeded their expectations or acceptable levels.
The radioactive isotope lead-210 was found to be present in the kindergarten play area at a level that was 22 times the expected amount and many times above the amount allowed by federal Superfund regulations, the report said.
RHM/PR
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