Alarming radioactive contamination levels at Missouri’s Jana Elementary School have caused the school to shut its doors and switch to virtual learning.

The news was shared Tuesday evening during a packed Hazelwood School District board meeting. At that meeting, parents were told that children who attended Jana Elementary School in Florissant would switch to virtual learning immediately until they were redistricted to other schools after Thanksgiving break.

Jana Elementary School is located within a subdivision surrounded by homes. With a population of roughly 400 students, the school opened its doors in the 1970s and has served thousands of children over the years.

The decision to close the school’s doors came after elevated levels of radioactive waste were measured in and around the elementary school. The elevated levels of contamination were recorded by the environmental investigation consultation group, Boston Chemical Data Corp. Their report confirmed long-standing concerns that the Army Corps of Engineers initially brought forward in a study of their own last summer. While the Army Corps of Engineers did not study the school, they did collect samples from a nearby wooded area where they found elevated levels of radioactive toxins. A class action lawsuit representing sick or deceased residents was given the green light to test the elementary school after the Army Corps of Engineers report.

Following Boston Chemical’s reports, the Army Corps of Engineers pushed back against some of their findings. Phil Moser, a program manager who oversaw some of the initial cleanup efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers shared, “The Boston Chemical Data Corp. report is not consistent with our accepted evaluation techniques and must be thoroughly vetted to ensure accuracy.”

During the investigation conducted by Boston Chemicals, the group found elevated levels of radiotoxic waste 22 times greater than expected in the kindergarten playground and 12 times greater than expected in the school's basketball courts. Traces of radioactive waste were also detected in the kitchen, the boiler room, and classrooms throughout the building as well.

The report and other environmental groups highlight that the school is located in a floodplain of Coldwater Creek, a 19-mile-long waterway. This floodplain was contaminated by nuclear waste from weapons manufacturing during World War II. As part of the Manhattan Project, from 1942 - 1957 Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. handled uranium ore and shipped the waste to a location near Lambert Airport where it would eventually seep into the Coldwater Creek waterway.

According to a 2019 report from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, individuals who came in contact with the waterway between the 1960s and the 1990s have an increased risk of health complications including leukemia, lung cancer, and bone cancer.

Environmentalists have also pointed to the radioactive waste as being the cause of several cases in which residents have suffered extremely rare cases of cancer. According to Boston Chemicals, their report highlights that radioactive isotope lead-210, polonium, radium, and other harmful toxins were “far in excess” than what was originally expected. Inhaling and being exposed to such toxins have been associated with severe injuries and other complications.

As the report issued by Boston Chemicals began to surface throughout the community, some parents quickly turned their frustration to the school board for not acting sooner. During the school board meeting, several parents questioned why they had to find out about the contamination at the school from the local news and not the school itself. “I’m happy that you have a plan now,” said parent Patrice Strickland. “I’m so happy you’re considering our babies now. But just communicate with us.”

In 1989 Coldwater Creek was designated as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. While the contaminated waste around Lambert Airport has been cleaned up, the cleanup in the creek is expected to be long and tedious with a completion date of 2038.

Leaders including U.S. Representative Cori Bush and U.S. Senator Josh Hawley have called on the federal government to take more action in the clean-up effort. Senator Hawley wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to expedite the cleanup process or fund new building construction if cleanup is not possible. In response to the contamination, Representative Bush shared that the Department of Energy and Army Corps “are responsible for the waste” and that “they must clean it up, immediately. No excuses.”