In the first of a trio of reports after its testing last fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District said Tuesday the now-closed Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Mo., is safe, from a radiological standpoint.
The 460-page report “provides additional data from our structural surveys and sampling, all of which have confirmed that there are no radiological concerns within the school,” said Phil Moser, St. Louis District program manager for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), in a Tuesday press release.
The report analyzed data from surfaces of structures such as floors, tables, cabinets, desks, piping and kitchen equipment. It also included surface testing from certain interior and exterior walls, according to the Army Corps.
There are two more reports in the Army Corps pipeline that will focus on the playground and inside and the school building, according to the press release. Along with wrapping up the reports, the agency continues its ongoing remediation, authorized under FUSRAP, along Coldwater Creek, which passes near the campus.
It remains to be seen if the latest Corps reports will blunt criticism of the organization by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who announced Tuesday they have proposed the “Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023” in their respective congressional chambers. The Senate version passed the upper chamber on Wednesday, Hawley said in a press release.
Hawley has threatened to block Department of Energy nominees in the Senate until the federal government commits to cleaning up contamination at the school cited in an October study by Boston Chemical Data Corp. The Boston Chemical report found contamination above Environmental Protection Agency cleanup standards. The local education board stopped using the Jana campus, dividing up students among other schools, soon after findings of that study were released.
The Corps with the assistance of contractor Leidos carried out its own radiological sampling in late October and early November of 2022.
