While Congresswoman Cori Bush of St. Louis and Sen. Josh Hawley will not agree on much socially or politically, they recently partnered to introduce the Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023,
The legislation requires the cleanup of Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri located in Bush’s 1st Congressional District.
In October 2022, the Hazelwood Board of Education closed the school after a private study found high levels of radioactive waste inside the building and its playground area.
The school is located near Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated with uranium and other radioactive waste from a World War II nuclear weapons program, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The Bush-Hawley legislation also establishes a Radioactive School Assistance Program to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies that have been financially impacted by the presence of radioactive contaminants stemming from U.S. atomic energy activities.
On Monday evening, Bush met with community leaders, advocates, and other area residents to discuss the radioactive waste impact on health and safety and ask what actions they want taken by the Department of Energy.
Bush then met with Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Weldon Spring Site Interpretative Center on Tuesday to discuss radioactive waste across St. Louis left decades ago by the Manhattan Project.
“I am grateful for our community leaders and advocates for coming together [on Monday] to share feedback and solutions on how we clean up the radioactive waste in our community,” Bush said in a release.
“I appreciate Secretary Granholm [hearing] our concerns and requests laid out by the community. This conversation marks an inflection point in a positive partnership. I believe that, together, we will work with the community to ensure the federal government cleans up its waste, restores trust, and ensures our neighborhoods are safer and healthier.”
In July, The Missouri Independent, MuckRock, and The Associated Press, released a series of articles that detailed a six-month study which found that private companies and the federal government repeatedly downplayed or failed to fully investigate the extent of the contamination from the development of the first atomic bomb.
“This is nothing short of a miracle,” said Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, told St. Louis Public Radio. The organization has advocated for cleanup of nuclear waste for a decade.
St. Louis County Council member Kelli Dunaway announced she will propose a bill requiring the county’s Department of Emergency Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review new construction and utility projects near Coldwater Creek.
Her concern is that new building projects could release radioactive waste that was found in the contaminated creek bed and property
“I think there are probably a lot of people that live around Coldwater Creek, they don’t have any idea that they are living near this radioactive waste that is decades old at this point,” she told St. Louis Public Radio.
Dunaway said the current draft would apply to new building, utility and construction permits within ZIP codes 63134, 63042, 63031, 63033, 63034 and 63138.
“It would pull in the right officials and the right expertise and professionals to be able to analyze and maybe even pay for some of the cleanup, if there is any radioactive waste,” said Dunaway, who would like legislative meetings scheduled by early fall.
Also, in the wake of the investigation, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade requested that Gov. Mike Parson call a special session of the Missouri legislature to assist impacted communities.
“The problems related with this waste have festered for nearly 80 years,” Quade said in a letter to Gov. Mike Parson.
“It is well past time for us to begin the long process of finally resolving them for the sake of all Missourians.”
Quade, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, chastised the government’s “unacceptable management” as the radiation festered over past decades.
She said the special session is needed for legislators to approve resources for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to investigate areas of radioactive waste under a law passed in 2018. As of Wednesday, Parson had not responded to the request.